Jazz Festival 2023

Small Group X:
Special Guest Gregory Tardy, Sax

Ensemble:
Konstantin Howard ’24, Tenor Sax
Daniela Vita ’24, Guitar
Alex Egol ’24, Piano
Lukas Arenas ’26, Alto Sax
Thomas Verrill ’25, Trombone
Mihir Rao ’26, Drums
Nikhil De ’23, Mandolin/Violin
Justin Lidard GS, Bass
Matthew Parrish, Faculty Ensemble Director & Bass

Small Group A:
Special Guest: Michael Dease, Trombone

Directed by Rudresh Mahanthappa

Ensemble:
Milan Sastry ’26 – Alto Saxophone
Isaac Yi ’24, Tenor Saxophone
Pranav Vadapalli ’25, Trombone
Rohit Oomman ’24, Guitar
Shlok Shah ’26, Piano
Patrick Jaojoco GS, Bass
Ryder Walsh ’26, Drums
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Director

Small Group 1:
Special Guest Artist: Jon Irabagon 

Ensemble:
Gabriel Chalick ’24, Trumpet
Evan DeTurk ’23, Alto Saxophone
Jack Johnson II ’23, Tenor Saxophone
Adithya Sriram ’24, Baritone Saxophone
Noah Daniel ’23, Guitar
Alexander Moravcsik ’23, Piano
Chloe Raichle ’23, Bass
Alexander Macarthur ’23, Drums

Ensemble Coach: Miles Okazaki

Greg Tardy

Saxophonist, multi-reedist, and composer Gregory Tardy is one of the most versatile jazz musicians of his generation, equally comfortable in a variety of musical and improvisational situations.  Born into a musical family, he began his musical career studying classical clarinet. In his early 20s, while preparing for a symphony career he discovered jazz saxophone and hasn’t looked back.  

In 1992, he started playing with the legendary drummer, Elvin Jones, and he recorded his first CD, Crazy Love. As a sought after sideman he has played with many prominent jazz artists including: Andrew Hill, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Wynton Marsalis, Jay McShann, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Steve Coleman, Betty Carter, Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Rashied Ali, Ellis Marsalis, Brian Lynch, John Patitucci, and many more. He has also performed and/or recorded along with many other notable saxophonists, such as Joe Lovano, Mark Turner, Chris Potter, Dewey Redman, Ravi Coltrane, and others. In more recent years, Tardy has gone full circle, by focusing on his clarinets more, using them on recordings by Tom Harrell, Ohad Talmor/Steve Swallow, Stefan Harris, Chris Potter and Andrew Hill.  

His performance schedule has taken him all over the world, playing at all of the major jazz festivals and on some of the biggest stages in jazz.  As a sideman, he has been featured on several Downbeat Albums of the Year and also several Grammy nominated recordings; including a Grammy winning CD with Brian Lynch in 2006.  He also has recorded fifteen CDs under his own name featuring his unique compositions, blending his love of traditional jazz with a more modern seeking style. His last two projects If Time Could Stand Still (2020) and Sufficient Grace (2022) have been released on WJ3 Records.

“When I listened to jazz over 30 years ago, it put me on a journey to learn, explore and create in the style. And the beauty of the genre is that you can spend a lifetime learning, growing and exploring and it never gets boring.” All About Jazz sums up Tardy’s career so far by writing, “Tardy already has his own voice and is on track to help write the next chapter in jazz history. This is exactly what more and more potential jazz listeners should be hearing.”

Michael Dease

Michael Dease is one of the world’s eminent trombonists, lending his versatile sound and signature improvisations to over 200 recordings and groups as diverse as Grammy winning artists David Sanborn, Christian Mcbride, Michel Camilo, and Alicia Keys. Born in Augusta, GA, he played the saxophone and trumpet before choosing the trombone at age 17. In 2001,
Dease moved to New York City to become part of the historic first class of jazz students at the Juilliard school, earning both bachelors and master’s degrees, and quickly established a reputation as a brilliant soloist, sideperson, and bandleader.  

Jon Irabagon

First-generation Filipino-American Jon Irabagon (b. 1978, Chicago) has been influenced by the self-empowering and individualistic philosophies and aesthetic of the great AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) ensembles as well as the historic world-class tenor saxophone lineage from his hometown. Equally adept at composing for rising stars in new music and the most intricate modern jazz ensemble, Irabagon builds on this foundation by adding modern classical and late-period John Coltrane to his compositional base, focusing primarily on mixed chamber ensembles to take advantage of hand-chosen musicians’ voices and attitudes.

After earning a Bachelor of Music from DePaul University, Irabagon continued his education by earning a Master of Arts from the Manhattan School of Music and completing post-graduate studies in the jazz program at Juilliard, where he received an Artist Diploma. However, Irabagon’s accomplishments do not end with his education. Irabagon was also the winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk Saxophone Competition, winner of the Rising Star award in Downbeat Magazine for both alto and tenor saxophones, and the recipient of a Philippine Presidential Award, the highest civilian honor an overseas Filipino can receive in commemoration for their contributions to the perception of Filipinos worldwide. 

As a member of a minority community who fights  against the countless times his voice has been marginalized, Irabagon’s compositions rely on open dialogues with his fellow performers to create a gateway for communication and understanding. This interaction of notated material and strong improvisatory character is essential to Irabagon’s musical vision. As music reporter Nate Chinen notes in his Top Performances of 2015 article, Irabagon’s compositions “are drawn to the play of opposing forces, especially those involving abstraction of form.” 

Named one of New York City’s 25 Jazz Icons by Time Out New York, Irabagon composes for his ensemble Outright!, which received a 5-star Masterpiece review in Downbeat Magazine for Unhinged (2014), as well as the Jon Irabagon Trio, featuring Barry Altschul and Mark Helias, and his new quartet with Matt Mitchell, Chris Lightcap and Dan Weiss. Irabagon has been an integral part of ensembles such as the Dave Douglas Quintet, the Mary Halvorson Quintet, Septet and Octet, Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor, Ralph Alessi’s This Against That, Mostly Other People do the Killing and Uri Caine’s Catbird. 

Irabagon has been an ensemble and private lesson instructor for all levels at several institutions in the New York City area, including with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy, as well as giving saxophone, improvisation, and composition masterclasses on four continents.

In January 2023, Irabagon joined the University of Illinois Chicago faculty, teaching jazz saxophone, direct combos, and courses in jazz history. 

Irabagon’s main focus is building his own compositional voice, as evidenced by receiving grants and commissions like The Stone at National Sawdust Commissioning Series, an Artists at Albatross Reach compositional residency, the Shifting Foundation, two French American Cultural Exchange grants, a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grant, a South Arts Jazz Road touring grant, and an upcoming USArtists International grant.

Irabagon currently runs his own imprint, Irabbagast Records, to release his own uncategorizable works as well as other cutting-edge, creative artists.

Artemis

The brainchild of pianist and composer Renee Rosnes, Artemis is a powerful ensemble of modern masters. Named for the Greek goddess of the hunt, the multinational, multigenerational band was founded in 2017 under the banner of International Women’s Day. Artemis’ performance at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival was so dynamic, Blue Note Records President Don Was signed the group to the label. Tour dates across Europe and North America followed, including performances at such iconic stages as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, SFJAZZ, Chicago Orchestra Hall, as well as at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Saratoga Jazz Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival among others. Artemis has been featured on the cover of DownBeat, in Vanity Fair, on NPR’s Jazz Night in America. Their eponymously titled debut album contained a superb nine song set and was released in 2020. The recording was described by NPR as “a killer line-up of players who hail from all over the world…they all converge on this extremely cosmopolitan, sleek, rhythm-forward, modern sound.” Artemis will deliver their second album in Spring 2023. Each member of the band is a virtuoso player, composer and bandleader and the group’s repertoire reflects each individual’s sound. From original music to mind-bending arrangements of eclectic material, Artemis performs with power, passion, and high-wire intensity. 

Throughout its eight-decade history, Blue Note Records has been celebrated as a home for the leading voices in jazz. The label continued that tradition with the release of the self-titled debut from ARTEMIS, a supergroup initially comprising of seven of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz. Featuring pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and featured vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, ARTEMIS conjured a powerful collective voice from this septet of visionary bandleaders and composers. 

The band initially assembled at Rosnes’ behest for a European festival tour three years ago. “I chose musicians whom I respected and wanted to make music with,” the pianist says, “and after performing together, I realized that we had a brilliant chemistry and so we decided to explore the possibilities of what might develop over time. That’s how ARTEMIS was born.” 

The group is distinctive not only for bringing together singular artists, each renowned for their own remarkable solo careers; but for its multi-generational and globe-spanning line-up. Despite its relatively brief existence, ARTEMIS has been featured in Vanity Fair and on NPR’s Jazz Night in America, and has performed on some of the country’s most iconic stages, from Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Tisch Center for the Arts to the Newport Jazz Festival. 

ARTEMIS is now comprised of pianist Renee Rosnes, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, newcomers tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover and alto saxophonist/flutist Alexa Tarantino, as well as original members bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Allison Miller.

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Hailed by Pitchfork as “jaw-dropping… one of the finest saxophonists going,” alto saxophonist, composer and educator Rudresh Mahanthappa is widely known as one of the premier voices in jazz of the 21st century. He has over a dozen albums to his credit, including the acclaimed Bird Calls, which topped many critics’ best-of-year lists for 2015 and was hailed by PopMatters as “complex, rhythmically vital, free in spirit while still criss-crossed with mutating structures.” His most recent release, Hero Trio, was considered to be one of the best jazz albums of 2020 by critics and fans alike.  Rudresh has been named alto saxophonist of the year for nine of the last eleven years running in Downbeat Magazine’s International Critics’ Polls (2011-2013, 2015-2018, 2020-1), and for five consecutive years by the Jazz Journalists’ Association (2009-2013) and again in 2016. He won alto saxophonist of the year in the 2015-2018 & 2020 JazzTimes Magazine Critics’ Polls and was named the Village Voice’s “Best Jazz Artist” in 2015.  He has also received the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, among other honors, and is currently the Anthony H. P. Lee ’79 Director of Jazz at Princeton University.

Born in Trieste, Italy to Indian émigrés in 1971, Mahanthappa was brought up in Boulder, Colorado and gained proficiency playing everything from current pop to Dixieland. He went on to studies at North Texas, Berklee and DePaul University (as well as the Stanford Jazz Workshop) and came to settle in Chicago. Soon after moving to New York in 1997 he formed his own quartet featuring pianist Vijay Iyer. The band recorded an enduring sequence of albums, Black Water, Mother Tongue and Codebook, each highlighting Mahanthappa’s inventive methodologies and deeply personal approach to composition. He and Iyer also formed the duo Raw Materials.

Coming deeper into contact with the Carnatic music of his parents’ native southern India, Mahanthappa partnered in 2008 with fellow altoist Kadri Gopalnath and the Dakshina Ensemble for Kinsmen, garnering wide acclaim. Apti, the first outing by Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition (with Pakistani-born Rez Abbasi on guitar and Dan Weiss on tabla), saw release the same year; Agrima followed nine years later and considerably expanded the trio’s sonic ambitions.  In 2020, Rudresh released Hero Trio, an album of “covers” paying tribute to his musical heroes followed by the digital EP Animal Crossing in 2022 with the same trio.  He also co-led a project celebrating the centenary of Charlie Parker with the blessing of the Parker estate. 

Mahanthappa has also worked with Jack DeJohnette, Mark Dresser, Danilo Pérez, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, the collaborative trios MSG and Mauger, the co-led quintet Dual Identity with fellow altoist Steve Lehman, and another co-led quintet with fellow altoist and Chicago stalwart Bunky Green (Apex). His exploratory guitar-driven quartets on Samdhi and Gamak featured David Gilmore and Dave “Fuze” Fiuczynski, respectively. In 2015 he was commissioned by Ragamala Dance to create Song of the Jasmine for dancers and a hybrid jazz/South Indian ensemble. He was also commissioned by the PRISM Saxophone Quartet to compose a chamber piece, “I Will Not Apologize for My Tone Tonight,” which can be heard on the quartet’s 2015 double-disc release Heritage/Evolution, Volume 1.   He was recently commissioned by the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble to compose “Finding Our Voice” which premiered in 2021.

Mahanthappa is a Yamaha artist and uses Vandoren reeds exclusively.

Rufus Reid

Rufus Reid is one of a handful of true renaissance 5igures in the Arts. This bassist and composer has been an active presence in the jazz world since the 1970’s. He has recorded over 500 albums, 25 under his own name, with Terrestrial Dance and Always In The Moment released in Vinyl by Newvelle Records. The 2022 CD release, Celebration, features the jazz trio with a string quartet. Reid can be heard on recordings with Dexter Gordon, Andrew Hill, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Quartet, Kenny Barron, Stan Getz, J.J. Johnson, Lee Konitz, Jack DeJohnette and many others. 

Reid has written for strings, chamber ensembles, solo bass, jazz ensembles of varying sizes and symphony orchestras and has had the privilege of having all of them performed. 

His reputation as an educator is equal to that of his musical achievements. His book The Evolving Bassist (Myriad Limited, 1974) remains the industry standard for double bass methodology. Reid and Dr. Martin Krivin created the Jazz Studies and Performance Bachelor of Music Program at William Paterson University. This program offered the 5irst professional academically accredited Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies in the NY, NJ, CT tri-state area. 

He has received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and the MacDowell Colony Grant among others. His 2014 release, Quiet Pride – The Elizabeth Catlett Project, received two Grammy Nominations; for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and for Best Instrumental Composition. 

Rufus Reid continues to be the Evolving Bassist.