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Tenor saxophonist Phil Burlin will be guest musician with the student Jazz Ensemble during its spring concert 8 p.m. tonight at the Williams Center for the Arts.
Sponsored by the music department, the event is free and open to the public. Burlin will give a free improvisation clinic 2:30 p.m. in room 123 for students and the public.
“This semester we have the highest student participation ever and the quality of the band is as strong as ever,” says Ken Brader, ensemble director and one of the top trumpet players in the nation.
Brader was impressed with Burlin’s playing and arranging as the saxophonist performed with the Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble at the International Jazz Convention in Toronto last year. Burlin provided a copy of his arrangement chart for “This is Albert,” which the Jazz Ensemble played last year. The Jazz Ensemble will play four of his arrangements and will try out a fifth with Burlin at a rehearsal this week for possible inclusion in the concert.
“I love his writing style — the Commodores sounded great doing his charts,” says Brader. “Our band has enjoyed playing them and they work well for us. Phil has been very actively in touch with me all semester, something that I appreciate as far as preparing the band for his arrival.”
The concert will feature vocal performances by Alexis Siemons ’05 (Moorestown, N.J.), a communications and culture major who sings with Cadence, a female a cappella student ensemble, and Kara Boodakian’07 (Winchester, Mass.), an alto with the Quintessence jazz a cappella student group.
The ensemble:
The first half of the program, including featured solos: “The Zachman is Back” by Mike Pendowski, featuring Roma and Pettinelli; “We’ll Be Together Again” by Clare Fischer, with Boodakian on vocals; “Nightowl Suite” by Mike Tomaro, featuring Mease, Roma, and Pettinelli; “Groovin’ with Bradley” by Jeff Jarvis, featuring Ponder, McEwen, Myers, Nilson, Beatrice, Furlong, and Pettinelli; “Stolen Moments” by Oliver Nelson, featuring
Mitchell on vocals and Furlong, Ciliberti, Comerford, and Cooper; and “El Gatote” by Matt Harris, featuring Furlong, Ciliberti, Glick, Fragassi, Cooper, and Roma.
Following intermission, Burlin will join the ensemble for the second half of the program, which will be comprised of his arrangements: “This I Dig of You” by Hank Mobley, featuring Roma, Mease, and Ciliberti; “I Remember You” by Schertzinger/Mercer, featuring vocals by Siemons; “Sleeping Dancer Sleep On” by Wayne Shorter; and “Red Snapper” by Bobby Shew.
The Jazz Ensemble’s winter concert featured internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller, Lafayette’s 2003-04 Alan and Wendy Pesky Artist-in-Residence.
The Jazz Quintet performed a concert featuring several student arrangements and an original song April 26.
Brader, who also teaches trumpet at Lafayette, has played principal trumpet on NFL Films’ symphonic recordings for national broadcast. He is lead trumpet and soloist with the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra and a frequent performer in Philadelphia and New York venues. In January, he performed 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.” Last year, he played with Philadelphia’s City Rhythm Orchestra in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.
Brader 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.
Lafayette’s jazz ensemble is led by noted trumpet player and conducter Ken Brader, who has played lead trumpet with Chuck Mangione, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and other top jazz performers.