JAZZ IN JULY Summer Music Programs, July 8-19, 2013 Get information and apply online at www.jazzinjuly.com MUSIC ADMISSIONS INFO: Grad  Undergrad Audition Requirements for Undergrad Admission JAZZ ENSEMBLE AUDITIONS: Sept. 3-5, 2013. Sign-up Sheet at Fine Arts Center Room 252, Prof. Holmes' office; audition music in the Music Office, Room 273. Click for Ensemble Audition info (Word)   Jazz Faculty JEFFREY W. HOLMES Director of Jazz & African-American Music Studies Program; Conductor, Composition; Professor 252 Fine Arts Center (413) 545-6046   Bio  Email Website  New CD-Oct 2012 T. DENNIS BROWN Music Education; Associate Professor (Jazz History) 265 Fine Arts Center (413) 545-6135   Bio   Email ROBERT FERRIER Jazz Guitar; Adjunct Faculty 149L Fine Arts Center (413) 545-2227   Bio   Email THOMAS GIAMPIETRO Jazz Studies (Drum Set); Lecturer 149M Fine Arts Center (413) 577-1709   Bio   Email CATHERINE JENSEN-HOLE Vocal Jazz, Undergraduate Composition & Arranging; Visiting Assistant Professor 149F Fine Arts Center (413) 577-2459   Bio   Email SALVATORE MACCHIA Jazz & Classical Bass, Composition; Professor 281 Fine Arts Center (413) 545-6053   Bio   Email FELIPE SALLES Jazz Studies, Saxophone, Composition; Assistant Professor 167 Fine Arts Center (413) 545-6051   Bio   Email

Jazz Events, Spring 2013 Tues, Jan 29, 8pm, Bezanson EARL MACDONALD & NEW DIRECTIONS ENSEMBLE Jeff Holmes & 10 players perform music by pianist/leader MacDonald Thurs, Feb 7, 8pm, Bezanson  Free JAZZ COMPOSERS Works by Grad. Composition/Arranging majors played by Grad. Jazz Chamber Ensemble & Jazz Ensemble I Tues, Feb 12, 8pm, Bezanson BLOOD DRUM SPIRIT Guest ensemble, globally-inspired music by Royal Hartigan, alum '81 & quartet Thurs, Feb 28, 8pm, Bowker 32nd Annual JAZZ SHOWCASE Spotlight on the music of Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea Produced by Jeffrey W. Holmes Sat, Mar 9, 10-4, Campus Center, Smith College  Free FIVE COLLEGE JAZZ FESTIVAL      Big band, combo & vocal jazz ensembles from UMass, Amherst, Hampshire & Smith Colleges Tues, Mar 12, 8pm, Bezanson TUESDAYS IN BEZANSON: JAZZ! Featuring Jeff Holmes, Felipe Salles, Catherine Jensen-Hole, Tom Giampietro, Bob Ferrier, Bob Weiner Thurs, Apr 4, 8pm, Bezanson   Free JAZZ LAB ENSEMBLE     Micah Maurio/Jeff Schneider, directors Big Band repertoire, new/historic works Sat, Apr 6, 8:30-5:30, Music wing Free 15th Annual H.S. JAZZ FESTIVAL High school big bands, combos & vocal jazz ensembles, adjudications & clinics by faculty/guests, incl. vibraphonist Dave Samuels Tickets: Dave Samuels & Caribbean Jazz Project, 8pm Tues, Apr 23, 8pm, Bowker CHAPEL JAZZ ENSEMBLE Tom Giampietro/Felipe Salles, directors Fri, Apr 26, 8pm, Bowker JAZZ ENSEMBLE I & STUDIO ORCHESTRA Jeffrey W. Holmes, director. Guest vocalist Sheila Jordan records live with the ensembles; orchestrations by Holmes & students Sun, Apr 28, 8pm, Bezanson VOCAL JAZZ ENSEMBLE Catherine Jensen-Hole, director

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Jazz Ensembles

JAZZ ENSEMBLE I/STUDIO ORCHESTRA
Jeffrey W. Holmes, director
This award-winning Big Band has gained national and international recognition including top honors at major collegiate jazz festivals and conferences, and ensemble, individual performing, and writing citations from Downbeat Magazine's Annual Student Music Awards. Guest jazz artists are commonly featured with this ensemble. (Recent guests: Sheila Jordan, voice; Jovino Santos Neto, piano)

Strings, winds and percussion augment Jazz Ensemble I to form the Studio Orchestra, seven times named Best Collegiate Studio Orchestra and three times Best Blues/Pop/Rock Ensemble by Downbeat. Faculty and student works are performed prominently along with significant historic repertoire.

CHAPEL JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Felipe Salles & Thomas Giampietro, directors
Presents traditional big-band literature, experimental compositions, and pop and rock music.

JAZZ LAB ENSEMBLE
This big-band ensemble performs a varied repertoire, and is conducted by Graduate Jazz majors.

VOCAL JAZZ ENSEMBLE Catherine Jensen-Hole, director The primary ensemble for vocal jazz studies, it has been named Best Collegiate Jazz Choir by Downbeat magazine. Consisting of 8-12 singers and a rhythm section that is often augmented by horns, the ensemble performs both standard and contemporary jazz repertoire arranged by faculty, students and nationally-recognized vocal jazz arrangers.

CHAMBER JAZZ ENSEMBLES
Jazz Faculty and Jazz Graduate students, directors/coaches
Multiple ensembles perform standard and student-written materials in concert and weekly recital settings.

JAZZ IN JULY
This Fine Arts Center two-week summer program, although not a part of Music Department curricula or degree programs, takes place in the Music wing of the Fine Arts Center and includes jazz faculty members from the Department. (To learn more, please see the website)

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Undergraduate Jazz Degree Program:

Jazz & African-American Music Studies (JAAMS):
Director: Professor Jeffrey W. Holmes, jwholmes@music.umass.edu, (413) 545-6046

A jazz performance program which requires junior and senior recitals, plus courses that include jazz history, African-American music, jazz arranging and composition, jazz theory and improvisation, instrument- and voice-related classes, and applied lessons. Students also participate in a broad range of performance styles and ensembles, which is of great use when entering professional careers.
Links to detailed course subplans (pdf format) in Jazz:
Woodwind/Brass
Percussion
Guitar
Strings
Keyboard
Voice

See also the Undergraduate Music Programs page & the
Undergraduate Audition Requirements page

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Graduate Jazz Degree Program:

Jazz Composition & Arranging
Director: Prof. Jeffrey W. Holmes, jwholmes@music.umass.edu, (413) 545-6046
Entry Requirements on the Graduate Audition Requirements page
For Subplan/Degree Checklist: (PDF, Word Doc)
Download Graduate Music Handbook (Word)
See also the Graduate Music Programs page

The jazz composition and arranging Masters program is intended for musicians who desire to pursue graduate study in the field of jazz studies in order to enhance their own artistry and prepare for professional careers in the jazz field.

Please note: There is no graduate degree in Jazz performance, but candidates for the Masters degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging (click for requirements) may study one of the traditional jazz instruments: saxophone, trumpet, trombone, percussion/drums, bass, piano, voice or guitar, as well as play in jazz ensembles.

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Jazz Program News

Jazz Quintet --Micah Maurio MM'13, trumpet; Mat Schumer MM'12, sax; Chris Baymon, piano; Dave Hassell '11, bass and Ted Sullivan '11, drums--spent 10 days performing and teaching with the Second University Jazz Festival in Colombia, South America at the universities in Medellin, Pereira and Manizales, the library in La Ceja, and at various public sites.

Studio Orchestra/Jazz Ensemble I, Jeffrey W. Holmes, director, with guest vocalist Sheila Jordan, performed at the 3rd Annual Jazz Education Network Conference, the defining national/international annual Jazz Educator event, Louisville, KY & Hempfield Area H.S., Greensburg, PA.

Our amazing list of Visiting Artists from 2011-12: Randy Brecker, trumpet Ravi Coltrane, saxophone * Vince DiMartino, trumpet Free Planet Radio, world music/jazz Tia Fuller, saxophone * Jazz Ambassadors, U.S. Army Field Band Jovino Santos Neto, pianist Lawrence Panella, saxophone SFJAZZ Collective * Ernie Watts, saxophone *

Randy Brecker

* = Sponsored by the Fine Arts Center

Student Award Winners:

Gregory Blair '12 , Downbeat Jazz Arrangement Award, Undergraduate winner

Jeffrey Schneider MM'14 and Micah Maurio MM'13 were selected for the Jazz Performance and Jazz Composition areas of the Mentor Program of the Jazz Education Network. The national program pairs college/university jazz students, on a track toward a career in performance, education or the business of music and the arts, with experts in their chosen field.

Paul Olesuk, Fletcherson Henderson/Max Roach Endowed Scholarship Award

Micah Maurio, Frank Prentice Rand Scholarship

Gregory Blair, Class of 1945 Merit Scholarship

Faculty News:

Jazz drummer Thomas Giampietro was featured on the Sabian Cymbal artist's page. http://www.sabian.com/de/artist/tom-giampietro

Catherine Jensen-Hole was guest conductor of the Jazz Choir at the Connecticut Valley High School Festival. She performed at the 3rd Annual Jazz Educator Network Conference in Louisville, KY in a vocal jazz ensemble of jazz artists and educators under the direction of Paris Rutherford. She performed and taught at Jazz in July.

Felipe Salles traveled to Uganda, lecturing on the African-American Music Tradition at Stawa University, Kampala, and researching--Traditional Music: Kampala & the countryside of Uganda--on a Marion and Jasper Whiting Fellowship. In São Paulo, Brazil, he gave lectures and masterclasses, was a soloist and featured composer, and directed a combo at the International Association of Schools of Jazz Meeting.  Salles received one of only eight UMass Lilly Teaching Fellowships which he will use to develop a course in Brazilian music. He was soloist at the premiere of his work, The Cave, commissioned and performed by the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Ithaca, NY. Salles toured with the Deanna Witkowski Group and performed in the Congahead.com video by Gonzalo Grau y La Clave Secreta. He is a soloist on the New World Jazz Composers Octet CD Breaking News (Big and Phat Jazz Productions), which features his composition Children's Waltz. Salles received a $1,500 UMass Internationalization Grant for his Brazilian Music Studies Field Trip Project.

Jazz Alumni News:

With deep roots in classical music, saxophonist Libby Richman '76 leads Libby & Co., an ensemble that plays original jazz at venues such as The Newark Museum, Sarah Lawrence College and The Art of Music series at The Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University. A Meet the Composer grant recipient, her latest recording, Open Strings, is available at cdbaby.com. Her educational concert, A Guided Tour of Jazz, presented at libraries in the NY/NJ/CT area, incorporates some of her own music.

Tony Lechner '93 & MM'97 was awarded the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize in Jazz for the second consecutive year (a first in the competition's history). For Oscar is a tribute to the late Oscar Peterson, and features UMass alumni Alec Derian '02 on bass and Jon Fisher on drums. Hear the winning song at www.TonyLechner.com. He founded and conducts the Valley Jazz Choir and the Valley Rock Choir in western Massachusetts.

Jonathan Mele '93 & MM'95 continues to play with funk band, The Second Step, and several big bands, including the David O'Rourkestra, the Jeff Holmes Big Band, and a Maynard Ferguson tribute band.  He performed a workshop of a new musical loosely based on Our Town. Recent releases include the New England Jazz Ensemble and Jerry Costanzo's track Can I Steal a Little Love.

David Pope '95, saxophonist and composer, was named Distinguished Teacher of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University  for 2012-13.  He has been on the faculty since 2000 and recently presented a recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington , D.C.

Ibeji, a CD by Paul Lieberman MM'08 , appeared on several Best of 2011 lists including Jon Garelick's of the Boston Phoenix. He received twin nominations on the website Latin Jazz Corner, for Brazilian Jazz Album of the Year and Latin Jazz Flutist of the Year. His music received outstanding reviews on Step Tempest and Jazz Times. All About Jazz said: stunning, heartfelt, and emotional. Lieberman, [who] is a soulful player on any instrument, conveying deep emotional content... demonstrates his instrumental mastery and reveals himself as a formidable composer.

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Student Ensemble Recordings (click to listen to audio mp3 file)

Studio Orchestra
Irving Berlin's Let's Face the Music and Dance (arr. Mike Tomaro/Jeffrey W. Holmes)

Jazz Combo
Alex Lee Clark's The Big Lebowski Suite, "Walter Sobchak"

Jazz Ensemble I
Chris Lapidas' Black Jack

Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Brooks Bowman's East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
(Additional lyrics by Catherine Jensen-Hole)

JAZZ FOR THE HOLIDAYS, a live, 2-disc CD set, featuring highlights from five "Jazz for the Holidays & Beyond" concerts by UMass' award-winning Jazz Ensemble I and guests, directed by Jeffrey W. Holmes; also includes a special bonus track featuring the late Horace Clarence Boyer. Available online at billsrecording.com (lowest price, $11.99 plus tax & shipping, listen to samples) or cdbaby.com.

Faculty CDs

Thomas Giampietro, Jazz Drummer

Commonality
Original Jazz compositions by Grammy winner Jeff Coffin
Compass Records, Amazon & Itunes

Go Round
with Jeff Coffin
Compass Records, Amazon & Itunes

Affinity Trio
with Don Aliquo & Jonathan Wires, original Jazz compositions
Independent & Itunes

Sound of the Slide Guitar with Andy Hall Winner, Instrumental Album of the Year-International Bluegrass Music Awards Sugar Hill Records, Cd Baby, Itunes & Amazon Aquafier with Andy Hall, Casey Driessen Instrumental CD of jazz/rock influenced Bluegrass music Independent, Cd Baby & Itunes

Jeffrey W. Holmes, Jazz Bandleader, Composer, Trumpeter & Pianist

Of One's Own, Jeff Holmes Quartet (Release Oct. 16, 2012)
Jeff Holmes, piano, composer/arranger all tracks; Adam Kolker, tenor, soprano & bass clarinet; James Cammack, basses; Steve Johns, drums
Label: Miles High Records
Available: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, MilesHighRecords.com

Chicago Exitos!
Artist: New York Latin All-Stars featuring Eddie Ganz
Jeff Holmes, trumpet/flugelhorn and horn arranger, all tracks
Chicago II Records, available: Amazon, Chicagotheband.net, Itunes

It's A Grand Night For Swinging, New England Jazz Ensemble with guests John Abercrombie, guitar; Ali Ryerson, flute & Giacomo Gates, vocal Jeff Holmes, Lead trumpet all tracks; arranger: It's A Grand Night For Swinging, Jazz Folk, Labour Day, Risky Business CDBaby, Amazon Earth Music, Paul Winter Consort Jeff Holmes composer, and performer (piano) www.livingmusic.com, Amazon

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