News Release

Note: The festival news release is posted here.

Festival to feature artists
from stars to students

CHAPEL HILL – Following are capsule biographies of the artists and ensembles scheduled to perform in the 30th Carolina Jazz Festival, Feb. 28- March 3 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Two of the concerts – by Kenny Garrett and Nicholas Payton on March 2 and the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra on March 1 – are part of the 2006-2007 Carolina Performing Arts Series as well as the jazz festival. For a festival schedule with dates, times and places, visit http://www.unc.edu/music/jazzfest/.

Marquee concert artists:

Kenny Garrett
Garrett, a saxophonist and flutist, is an alumnus of the legendary Miles Davis ensembles. The multi-Grammy nominee’s career took off when he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1978, then led by Ellington’s son, Mercer Ellington.

Three years later, Garrett played in the Mel Lewis Orchestra and the Dannie Richmond Quartet. He has recorded 11 albums as a band leader and played with jazz greats Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Brian Blade and Ron Carter.

Garrett’s music sometimes exhibits an Asian influence, especially on his 2006 recording, “Beyond the Wall.” The Los Angeles Times called him “one of the finest jazz saxophonists around.” The Washington Post wrote, “someone should post a storm warning prior to a Kenny Garrett concert.”

Nicholas Payton
Payton, who portrayed a club musician in Robert Altman’s 1996 film “Kansas City,” has appeared with Wynton Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

The son of bassist and sousaphonist Walter Payton, he took up the trumpet at the age of 4. By the time he was 9, he was playing in the Young Tuxedo Brass Band alongside his father. He studied with Ellis Marsalis and toured with Marcus Roberts and Elvin Jones.

He received a Grammy Award in 1997 for best instrumental solo for his performance on the album “Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton.” Besides his own recordings, Payton has played and recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman and Roy Hargrove.

North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra
The orchestra, which performs and teaches throughout the state, comprises 18 professional jazz musicians from across North Carolina. Orchestra director James Ketch is also a UNC music professor, director of UNC’s jazz studies program and director of the Carolina Jazz Festival.

The orchestra embraces both tradition and innovation, performing the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman as well as compositions by contemporary jazz composers. Its festival performance will feature artists in residence Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Westray and Steve Wilson.

Artists in residence:

Terri Lyne Carrington
A drummer, composer and producer, Carrington developed a reputation as a child prodigy. Her grandfather, Matt Carrington, who had played with Fats Waller, gave her a set of drums when she was 7. Soon she was jamming with jazz veterans Dizzy Gillspie, Oscar Peterson, Joe Williams and many more.

Carrington’s debut release, “Real Life Story,” was nominated for a Grammy Award and featured Carlos Santana. She has been the drummer for the “Arsenio Hall Show” and the late-night TV show “VIBE,” hosted by Sinbad. She toured the globe with Al Jarreau and Herbie Hancock.
 
Carrington has written and produced for artists including Gino Vannelli and Dianne Reeves. Reeves’ Grammy-nominated compact disc, “That Day,” which Carrington produced, hovered at the top of the charts for months.

She appeared on Herbie Hancock’s CD “Gershwin’s World” and currently is touring with his electric and acoustic bands.

Ron Westray
Westray is lead trombonist in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra conducted by Wynton Marsalis. He also has appeared in concert with Ray Charles, Bob Dillon, Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, Josh Redman, Benny Carter, Christian McBride and Branford Marsalis.

Westray also is a member of The Mingus Band in New York City and an assistant professor in the jazz studies department at the University of Texas at Austin.

He made his recording debut in 1991 on the Marcus Roberts Band’s “As Serenity Approaches.” He has recorded as a sideman on labels including Columbia, Sony Classical and RCA Novus. His accomplishments have earned him exposure in publications including Ebony, Essence, Jazz Times, Downbeat, Life magazine and The New Yorker.

Steve Wilson
A saxophonist, eclectic songwriter and band leader, Wilson has appeared on more than 100 recordings, with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Donald Brown, Bill Stewart and others.

He has performed with Dr. Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center, which is broadcast on NPR. He periodically performs with some of New York’s premier big bands, including the Mingus Big Band and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He was artistic consultant for Harvey Keitel for the film, “Lulu on the Bridge” and has played with Corea’s Origins Band.

In 2003, he received the Virginia Jazz Award for Musician of the Year, presented by the Richmond Jazz Society.

Media mentions have included the following: “Adept in almost any setting, Wilson has the rare ability to say more with less and to let the space between each note breathe and resonate,” in The San Diego Tribune; and “This fellow is flawless, gifted with fabulous technique and a first-rate sense of what’s musical,” in The Palm Beach Post.

Student ensembles:

UNC Jazz Band
The flagship of the UNC music department’s jazz studies program, the 20-member band performs a wide variety of big band classics. Its repertoire ranges from music of the 1920s to contemporary selections.

Band director James Ketch, a UNC music professor and jazz studies program director, said the band allows students to develop musicianship, style and improvisational tools that can enable them to become professional artists.

The band has recorded three compact discs and performed by invitation at three of Europe’s most prestigious summer jazz festivals: Jazz aVienne in France; the Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland; and the North Seas Festival, The Netherlands.

UNC Jazz Combos
The four UNC Jazz Combos range in size from a quintet to an octet and focus on small group improvisation. The student musicians write and develop many of their own arrangements. In contrast to the UNC Jazz Band, the combos perform highly specialized programs that might be called the chamber music of jazz. UNC music faculty members Ketch, Stephen Anderson and Ed Paolantonio direct the combos.

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Carolina Jazz Festival contact: James Ketch, (919) 962-7560, jketch@email.unc.edu
College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093