Whether it's Dixieland, Swing, Big Band, Bebop, Fusion or Avant-garde, ASCAP is home to some of the greatest names that represent the rich heritage of jazz. From musical legends Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Benny Carter, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Erroll Garner, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Billy Strayhorn and Teddy Wilson to living giants Ornette Coleman, Quincy Jones, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Marian McPartland, Arturo Sandoval and Billy Taylor to those shaping the future such as Charlie Hunter, Marc Ribot, Maria Schneider, Matthew Shipp and John Zorn.
For more than twenty-five years, The ASCAP Foundation has been dedicated to nurturing gifted composers, and preserving our musical legacy by serving the entire music community through a variety of educational, professional and humanitarian programs. Space is limited. Please RSVP to [email protected].
The Bob Reynolds Quartet
Bob Reynolds was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and raised in New York and Florida, Bob began playing the saxophone at age 13. He is an honors graduate of the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Florida and the Berkeley College of Music in Boston. While still in college, he performed at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club, led his quartet in a featured performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival, toured Europe and Japan, and performed at The Kennedy Center. Bob has received many awards including Berkeley's prestigious Billboard Endowed Scholarship for Outstanding Academic and Musical Achievement. In 2000 he graduated summa cum laude from Berkeley and relocated to New York City. Bob has since performed with a variety of notable jazz artists, including Brian Blade, Aaron Goldberg, Gregory Hutchinson, and Bob Brookmeyer. He is currently performing as a leader and sideman in local clubs, and touring as a member of the Jonah Smith Band.
The Sherisse Rogers Group
Born in Philadelphia on April 17, 1978, Sherisse was surrounded by music at an early age. Her father, a talented singer and church organist, began to teach her to play the piano at age 7. This would be the first of many instruments that would come into her hands. By the time she was in the fourth grade she had taken up the alto saxophone and began to play in concert band. When she was exposed to the music of Charlie Parker in her eighth grade jazz band, she began a lifelong love of jazz music.
After 8 years as a saxophonist, Sherisse turned to a freelance career as an electric bassist. While in school, she maintained a steady freelance career playing everything from jazz and funk, to latin, and rock music. She has performed with Patrice Rushen and Headhunter's drummer Mike Clark. Sherisse was content with being a bassist until she started to write big band charts for the Cal State University big band. This was when she realized that she had found her true calling: Composition. She began assembling a small but steadily growing repertoire of big band and orchestral music, influenced by the styles of Gil Evans, Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler as well as several classical pieces influenced by such composers as John Corigliano, Maurice Ravel and Bela Bartok.
Sherisse quickly became an accomplished composer. She received the 2001 “Best Arrangement" award from American Society of Musicians, Composers and Arrangers for her orchestral arrangement of Jimmy Van Heusen's “Here's That Rainy Day". She was awarded the 2002 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award for her big band piece, “Waiting". In addition, she was selected to be a composer participant for the Henry Mancini Institute in 2003 and was featured in the Gala concert alongside Arturo Sandoval and film composer Jorge Calandrelli. In 2004 she was awarded the Emerging Composer Commission in honor of Count Basie by ASCAP / IAJE. And, earlier this year, she was awarded the 2005 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. Rogers has written music for Dave Liebman as well as Peter Erskine. Sherisse has also received commissions from the New York City All-City Jazz Band and the Souderton (Pennsylvania) High School Jazz Band.
In May 2004 she received a Masters of Music in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with great jazz composer / arranger Michael Abene. She recently finished orchestrating and arranging the thirteen-movement orchestral suite “Tierra Negra", composed by Meet the Composer grant recipient William Cepeda. Most recently she has finished recording her new CD entitled Sleight of Hand. Sherisse hopes to successfully combine all of the worlds of music that she loves, creating sounds that can survive everywhere, from the jazz club to the movie screen to the concert hall.
The Le Boeuf Brothers Band
Remy Le Boeuf has earned recognition, internationally and on the California Central Coast for both performance and composition. He was among the five jazz students chosen for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) Clifford Brown-Stan Getz Fellows, part of the 125 ARTS Week finalists chosen from among 6500 applicants. He was a member of the High School Grammy Ensemble and he has performed with a “who's who" of musicians, including Chick Corea, Chris Potter, John Benitez, The Heath Bros., Clark Terry, Gary Burton, The Clayton Bros, Jeff Hamilton, Ann Hampton Calloway, Phil Woods, Jon Faddis, Regina Carter, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, Kurt Elling, David “Fathead" Newman, and Jay McShann.
Remy was recognized in DownBeat Magazine student awards in 2003 and 2004 as winner and outstanding performer both individually and with his combo, Deuces Wild, for performance and for composition. In 2004 his combo won the Blues / Pop / Rock category and he and his brother, Pascal, were designated soloist co-winners. Remy and Pascal were among 22 winners nationally of ASCAP's 2003 / 2004 Young Jazz Composer Awards for musicians under 30 years old and they were the two selected to play original compositions on the bill with Marian McPartland at the awards ceremony at ASCAP in New York. Remy was a Jazz semi-finalist in the 2004 and 2005 International Songwriter's Competition. His quintet, playing his original compositions, won the 2004 Monterey Jazz Festival H.S. Combo competition where Remy received the Outstanding Horn Soloist award. Remy has been a member of the Kuumbwa Honor Band (four years), the SFJAZZ Honor Band (three years) and the Monterey Jazz Festival All Stars (three years) and has played at jazz festivals in Japan, New York, Ottawa and Montreal. At the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York in 2003 with SFJAZZ, he won an Outstanding Soloist award.
In January 2004 in New York at the 2004 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference Remy played in his brother's premiere of his Where There's Smoke, the ASCAP-IAJE Commission in Honor of Quincy Jones. He has also played with the Clifford Brown Stan Getz Fellows and with his own Combo, Deuces Wild. Remy has also performed with his combos, Deuces Wild and the Le Boeuf Brothers Quintet at numerous California Central Coast venues, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco and Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz where their CD release party sold out. Remy is currently a student in jazz performance and composition at Manhattan School of Music where he studies under the direction of Dick Oatts. A new CD, with music by he and Pascal, will be released in winter 2005.
Pianist Pascal Le Boeuf is currently a student in jazz performance and composition at the Manhattan School of Music. In the past few years he has earned recognition both internationally and on the California Central Coast for performance and composition. He was among the five jazz students chosen for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) Clifford Brown-Stan Getz Fellows, part of the 125 ARTS Week finalists chosen from among over 6500 applicants. He was alo a member of the 2004 High School Grammy Ensembles and has performed with Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, Clark Terry, Gerald Wilson, John Benitez, Ann Hampton Calloway, Phil Woods, Jon Faddis, Regina Carter, Dave Koz, Eric Marienthal, David “Fathead" Newman, and Chris Potter.
Pascal was awarded the ASCAP-IAJE Commission in Honor of Quincy Jones for Emerging Composers under the age of 35; he was the youngest artist to win this honor. His composition, a suite entitled Where There's Smoke, premiered at the IAJE Conference in New York, January 2004, and his group which included his twin brother Remy, Chris Potter, Jon Benitez, and Marcus Gilmore, received a standing ovation. He was recognized in the DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards in 2003 and 2004 as a winner and an outstanding performer both individually and with his combo, “Deuces Wild," for performance and for composition. In 2004 his combo won the Blues / Pop / Rock category and he and his brother, Remy, were designated soloist co-winners. His quintet, playing his original compositions, won the 2004 Monterey Jazz Festival H.S. Combo Competition.
Pascal and Remy were among 22 winners nationally of ASCAP's Young Jazz Composer Awards for musicians under 30 and were the two selected to play original compositions on the bill with Marian McPartland at the awards ceremony at ASCAP in New York. His compositions have been played by New Music Works Sound Horizons, as winner of Cal-Poly's All-State Jazz Festival Solo Competition, during his tenure at the 2003 Brubeck Institute Summer Colony.
Pascal was a finalist and semi-finalist in the 2004 International Songwriter's Competition and is currently a finalist in the 2005 competition with two selections. He has played with several different groups at jazz festivals in Japan, Ottawa and Montreal. His combo has appeared at numerous California Central Coast venues, most notably the Monterey Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Stanford Jazz Festival, Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco and Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. Pascal is currently developing his musical skills under the direction of Kenny Barron and Mike Abene in New York. Pascal's second CD of original compositions will be released in winter 2005.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
