Jazz Orchestra to present concert March 14
class=”alignleft wp-image-20066″ style=”margin: 2px 4px;” alt=”Northwestern_State_University_of_Louisiana” src=”http://klax-tv.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Northwestern_State_University_of_Louisiana.png” width=”160″ height=”160″ />NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State University Jazz Orchestra will present a concert Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Bassist Rodney Whitaker will be the featured guest artist. Galindo Rodriguez will conduct the orchestra. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. The concert is part of the annual NSU Jazz Festival, which includes clinics for middle school and high school jazz musicians.
The program will include “Lili’s Song” by Paul G. White featuring Jamie Cisneros on piano and Tajh Derosier on tenor saxophone, “Celestial Swingin’ Blues” by Vince Norman with Kazue Seo on trumpet and Derosier and “Walnut Creek” by William McCullough.
Whitaker will perform five on his compositions, “Ease It,” “For Garrison,” “A Heart Enflamed, A Soul Enchanted,” “Winter Moon,” and “Summer (The Sweet Goodbye.”
Whitaker’s performance is made possible by the Northwestern State Student Activities Board and the Natchitoches Tricentennial Comission.
An Internationally renowned bassist and Mack Avenue recording artist, Whitaker is one of the world’s renowned double bass performers, educators and mentors. He is dedicated to inspiring and growing the next generation of jazz educators and musicians. A Detroit native, he grew up in the city soaking in the sounds of jazz and classical music and working with the finest musicians in the city.
He completed a seven-year tenure as bassist with the Wynton Marsalis’ Sextet, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and has toured the world over the last 26 years, collaborating with legendary performing jazz artists such as Dianne Reeves, Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Junko Onishi, Yutaka Shiina, Kenny Burrell, Diana Krall, John Lewis, Kathleen Battle, Marian McPartland, Wycliffe Gordon, Kenny Garrett, Bradford Marsalis, Bob James, Roy Hargrove, Jon Carl Hendricks, Tommy Flanagan, Frank Morgan, Terence Blanchard, Betty “Be-Bop” Carter, Chick Corea, and leading symphony orchestras across the world.
In addition, he has appeared and presented master classes at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) conferences. Featured on more than 100 recordings, from film to compact discs, Whitaker’s film scores, “China,” directed by Jeff Wray, was released on PBS Fall 2002 and “Malaria and Malawi,” released on PBS Fall 2010. Also, Whitaker has a DVD release featuring Michigan State University’s Jazz Department entitled, “Inside Jazz” and three new compact discs entitled, “Get Ready” & “Work To Do,” both on Mack Avenue Records and “Better Than Alright” by Michigan State University College of Music.
In 2011, he was nominated for an Emmy for the ‘Original Music’ category, “Malawi and Malaria: Fighting to Save the Children” produced by Robert Gould and Sue Carter. Whitaker collaborated with musicians Phil Dwyer and Alan Jones on “Let Me Tell You About My Day,” produced by Alma Records and was nominated for a Juno Award in 2006 for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year, Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy.
He is a full professor of jazz double bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University where he has built one of the leading jazz degree granting programs offering both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz performance.
