Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. will celebrate the opening of its Living Jazz Archive on April 24 with a concert featuring Clark Terry as guest soloist with the university’s jazz orchestra.
The archive includes manuscripts, awards, instruments and other memorabilia donated by Terry, as well as archival materials of the late trumpeter Thad Jones and the late pianist James Williams.
Located in College Hall on the university’s campus, the archive provides students, researchers and visitors with the opportunity to explore original jazz manuscripts and other materials that are an important part of jazz history. The archive includes a number of Terry’s original big band arrangements, custom vintage trumpets, pencil music manuscripts, historic recordings, photos and other memorabilia. It also contains original pencil manuscripts by Jones, the founding director of the school’s jazz studies program, as well as original manuscripts of compositions by Williams, who served as director of the program from 1999 until his death in 2004.
The concert will take place at the Shea Center for Performing Arts. Terry and the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of David Demsey, will perform a program of Terry’s original scores dating to the 1950s, which Terry has donated to the archive. The concert is the culmination of a weeklong residency by Terry on the campus.
“The creation of the William Paterson University Living Jazz Archive represents a historic step for our campus,” Demsey said. “Unlike other ‘sealed’ archive collections, it is Clark Terry’s wish and our intent to use the collections for active teaching, learning, performance and research and to integrate the use and study of these materials into the curriculum of our program.”
More info: wpunj.edu
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
