Workshop Leader
Dave Douglas
Two-time Grammy-nominated jazz musician Dave Douglas is arguably the most prolific and original trumpeter-composer of his generation. From his New York base, where he's lived since the mid-1980s, Mr. Douglas has continued to earn lavish national and international acclaim including prizes from such organizations as the New York Jazz Awards, Down Beat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, and the Italian Jazz Critics' Society. His solo recording career began in 1993 with Parallel Worlds on Soul Note Records, and he has since released more than 30 recordings. In 2005, after seven critically acclaimed albums for Bluebird/RCA, Mr. Douglas launched his own record label, Greenleaf Music. The same year, he was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship. On Greenleaf, Mr. Douglas has released albums with his long standing quintet, the electronic sextet Keystone, and the mixed chamber ensemble Nomad. In 2009, he released Spirit Moves with his new brass quintet Brass Ecstasy, and his first big band recording, A Single Sky, a collaboration with Jim McNeely and Frankfurt Radio Bigband. This year brings a new work by Keystone entitled Spark of Being, a retelling of the Frankenstein myth in collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Bill Morrison.
Mr. Douglas is currently the artistic director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada and the co-founder and director of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which will celebrate its eighth anniversary in 2010. In addition to leading his own groups, Mr. Douglas has an important ongoing musical relationship as a member of John Zorn's group Masada, and with artists such as Anthony Braxton, Don Byron, Joe Lovano, Miguel Zenón, Uri Caine, Bill Frisell, Cibo Matto, Mark Dresser, Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg. As a composer, Mr. Douglas has been commissioned by the Trisha Brown Dance Company, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Essen Philharmonie, Library of Congress, and Stanford University.
Guest Faculty
Uri Caine
Uri Caine was born in Philadelphia and began studying piano with Bernard Peiffer. He played in bands led by Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt, Bootsie Barnes, and Grover Washington. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and studied composition with George Rochberg and George Crumb.
Since moving to New York City, Mr. Caine has recorded 19 albums as a leader, the most recent of which is The Othello Syndrome. He has made CDs featurning his jazz trio, his Bedrock Trio, and an ensemble performing arrangements of Mahler, Wagner, Beethoven, Bach, and Schumann.
Recently, Mr. Caine has received commissions from the Vienna Volksoper, the Seattle Chamber Players, Relache, the Beaux Arts Trio, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Köln, and the American Composers Orchestra. Mr. Caine was the director of the Venice Biennale for Music in September 2003, where he also premiered his new work The Othello Syndrome. He has performed his version of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations with orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the CBC Orchestra in Canada, and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In 2006, he was named composer-in-residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and premiered his Concerto for Two Pianos and Chamber Orchestra with Jeffrey Kahane in May 2006.
Mr. Caine has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Pew Foundation. He has performed at
many festivals including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, JVC Festival, San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Vittoria Jazz Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, Salzburg Festival, Holland Festival, Israel Festival, IRCAM, and Great Performers at Lincoln Center.
Clarence Penn
Clarence Penn ranks high among drummers who are versatile and savvy enough to play any style of music. Having played in a semi-professional capacity since the age of 15, Mr. Penn has toured, performed, and recorded with a long list of musical stars, including Betty Carter, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Jacky Terrasson, Roberta Flack, Dizzy Gillespie, Dianne Reeves, Cyrus Chestnut, Stephen Scott, Steps Ahead, Dave Douglas, Mike Stern, and Rachel Z. He is one of the most sought after drummers of his generation.
In 1989, Mr. Penn received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to study with the late, renowned drummer Alan Dawson. In addition, Mr. Penn was asked by Ellis Marsalis to join his trio. The following year, Mr. Penn traveled with Ellis and Wynton Marsalis and bassist Reginald Veal to Japan to perform at the famous Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival. There, Mr. Penn met Lewis Nash, who was impressed enough with Mr. Penn's talent to recommended him to Betty Carter during one of her many searches for talented musicians. Mr. Nash gave Mr. Penn such a glowing recommendation that Ms. Carter hired him without an audition.
After remaining with Ms. Carter for several years, Mr. Penn went on to play with Stanley Clarke, and soon after, he became part of the Cyrus Chestnut Trio and the Stephen Scott Trio. In 1995, Mr. Penn joined the popular fusion group Steps Ahead, recording two albums, one of which included his own composition. In 1996, the independent label Criss Cross Jazz invited Mr. Penn to record his first album as a bandleader, entitled Penn's Landing. Soon after its release, the New York Times named it one of the best records of the year.
The Participants
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Saxophones
When up-and-coming saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown first started playing saxophone, he would practice right after waking up around noon. His home-schooled days, which spanned from kindergarten until the seventh grade, allowed him to live on a jazz musician's schedule at a very early age. By age 10, Chad won his first Down Beat Student Music Award; since then he has won 12 more in numerous categories, from Best High School Jazz Soloist to Best College Group (for his work in the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet).
While in high school, Chad was one of two tenor saxophonists from North America selected for the 2008 Gibson/Baldwin Grammy High School Jazz Ensemble, the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, and the Jazz Band of America. In addition to performing in these prestigious groups, he studied at exclusive summer programs including the Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony and the Vail Summer Jazz Workshop, where he worked with such jazz greats as Lewis Nash, the Clayton Brothers, Terell Stafford, and Frank Morgan. Through the Brubeck Fellowship Program, a two-year collegiate program for students who have just graduated from high school, Chad has had the opportunity to work with more jazz icons, including Jeff Ballard, Geoffrey Keezer, and Ray Drummond. Chad also has worked with jazz legends in performing situations, sharing the stage with some of the most influential names in jazz, including McCoy Tyner, Dave Brubeck, Christian McBride, and Phil Woods.
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