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Internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, Lafayette’s 2003-04 Alan and Wendy Pesky Artist-in-Residence, will perform with the Jazz Ensemble at its annual winter concert 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Williams Center for the Arts.
Sponsored by the music department, the event is free and open to the public. The Jazz Ensemble features the most student trumpet, trombone, and saxophone players who have participated in the dozen years that director Ken Brader has led it.
Miller will play on two his own compositions — “Farewell to Dogma” and “Second Thoughts” — that have been arranged for jazz ensemble by New York trumpet player Bill Mobley.
The rest of the program includes “Napier” by Bill Cunliffe; “Layover in San Juan” by Gene Thorne; “Twas Only Yesterday” by Clare Fischer; “Easy to Love,” arranged by Billy May; “Johnny One Note,” arranged by Francy Boland; “Centerpiece,” arranged by Frank Mantooth and featuring bass trombone player Dave Mitchell ’05, a double major in music and economics & business from Bear Creek, Pa., as vocalist; and “Movin’ On” by Bill Liston.
Miller has attended five rehearsals with the Jazz Ensemble and will be return for the dress rehearsal as well.
“It has been a great experience for the members of the ensemble to hear him play and get his input on making his tunes sound the way he wants them to sound,” says Ken Brader, director of the Jazz Ensemble and one of the country’s top trumpet players. “He worked with the ensemble on rhythmic issues, dynamics, and intonation. The saxophones are all ‘doubling’ on flutes and clarinets, which is quite challenging — especially to get good intonation.”
“On a personal level, it is a real treat for me to hear Mulgrew play,” adds Brader. “He has an incredible harmonic and melodic vocabulary. After one of our Jazz Ensemble practices, our pianist Mike Ciliberti and I were hanging around and Mulgrew just started playing. He ended up playing 45 minutes while we became his private audience, discussing some of how he approached playing as he went along. That was priceless.”
The ensemble:
trumpets — John Sutton, Vince Petinelli, and students Rob McEwen, Mike Nilson, Steve Bayer, Mike Werner, and Chris Jacoby;
trombones — Ken Mease and students Mike Beatrice, Dave Glasser, Marc Gittleman, and Dave Mitchell;
saxophones — Mike Fragassi and students Jon Glick, Beth Ponder, Sam Roma, Dave Myers, and Jack Furlong;
drums – Chuck Cooper;
bass – student Sean Comerford;
piano – Mike Ciliberti
Miller’s professional career started at age 20 with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, led by the late Mercer Ellington. During his formative years as a sideman, Miller also worked with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Woody Shaw’s Quintet, and Betty Carter’s group. He was also one of the founding members of the Tony Williams Quintet.
The experience gained with such luminaries allowed Miller to rapidly become established as one of the most in-demand pianists in the New York scene. In 1985, Miller made his first recording as a leader for producer Orrin Keepnews’s former label, Landmark. During the 1990s, Miller developed his career as a leader of his own trios/quintets, recording an impressive series of albums for RCA/Novus.
In 1995, Miller toured Europe and the United States, sharing the stage with fellow pianist Kenny Barron. He also has played in various all-star groups, such as The New York Jazz Giants, One Hundred Golden Fingers, and the yearly editions of Jam Session-Jazz at the Philharmonic Today, and has recorded with almost every known jazz artist in the scene, from Joe Lovano to Nicholas Payton.
Miller remains one of the most recorded pianists in the scene today, second only to Barron, with over 400 recording sessions to his credit. His 2002 release, The Sequel, on MaxJazz, features Miller surrounded by long-time associates such as Steve Nelson and Steve Wilson in a blend of original compositions and standard tunes.
Brader, who also teaches trumpet at Lafayette, recently returned from San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., where he played with Philadelphia’s City Rhythm Orchestra. He will perform Jan. 11-12 in Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Fla., as part of a sextet featuring the Peter Nero Trio and three of the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra “All-Stars.”
Brader is lead trumpet and soloist with the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra, a frequent performer in Philadelphia and New York venues, and has played principal trumpet on NFL Films’ symphonic recordings for national broadcast. He has traveled internationally as assistant musical director, featured soloist, and lead trumpet with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He has played with Chuck Mangione, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and many of the world’s leading jazz performers.
Legendary pianist, conductor, and composer Peter Nero took Brader as his personal lead player to the Grand Teton Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for the Fourth of July in 2002. He was featured soloist in May 2002 at Phillipsburg High School with the Starburst Orchestra, a big band comprised of some of the best musicians in New York City. He has played as a member of the ensemble at Lincoln Center in New York and was featured soloist in Texas in October 2001.
Brader’s experience includes work on CDs that have won Grammy Awards, concerts in 30 countries as well as major symphony halls and jazz clubs in the United States, and continuing performances with the City Rhythm Orchestra. He was a member of the band performing at the most recent Republican National Convention.
“A lot of my professional playing is transferable to what I do at Lafayette,” says Brader, who received his degree from Eastman School of Music and directed the University of Rochester Jazz Ensemble. “I tell the jazz band about something that happened on a gig I played that week that can help them with their performance.”
In July 1998, Brader performed at several major international jazz festivals on the 23-day tour of eight European countries as a member of the Phil Woods Big Band. He performed as lead trumpet on the CD Live at Carnegie Hall — The 50th Anniversary Concert by Patti Page, which won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. He also was lead trumpet and soloist in the nationally broadcast PBS TV special “Songs of Johnny Mercer” with Johnny Mathis and Melissa Manchester.
Brader’s ability to share his own performance excellence has brought individual achievement for students taking private lessons. The Pennsylvania All-State Jazz Band, which fields only four or five trumpet players, typically includes two of his students. One year, Brader’s students took all four trumpet positions. His students also have taken the lead trumpet position in successive years in the All-State East Jazz Band, which draws from a 12-state area.