Gershwin, GRAMMY

On Thursday, January 30, 2003, Berklee College of Music presents "The Great American Songbook: The Music of George Gershwin" at 8:15 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center. Tickets for this very special event are $10 general admission, $4 for seniors, and are available at the Berklee Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, or by calling 617-747-2261.

Berklee Associate Professor of Voice Donna McElroy, who arranged and sang background vocals on several gold and platinum releases, will perform some of Gershwin's best, including a medley from Porgy and Bess , accompanied by a 40-piece all-star orchestra of Berklee faculty members and top students.

Executive Vice President and five-time GRAMMY-winning vibraphonist Gary Burton will be guest solo instrumentalist. Guest vocalists include faculty member Marlon Saunders and student Christy Bluhm.

Musical arrangers for the concert include faculty members Larry Monroe, Joe Smith, Jay Kennedy, and GRAMMY nominee Richard Evans, who will also serve as musical director.

Berklee's Black History Month Music Celebration 2003 takes place throughout the entire month of February, with concerts, clinics, and lectures by visiting artists as well as Berklee's esteemed faculty and students. All events are open to the public, and many are free.

The month kicks off with a free concert on Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 7:30 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall, 921 Boylston Street. Faculty pianist Matt Jenson will present “The Music of Bob Marley,” leading a student ensemble in the music of the Jamaican musical icon who, with his band the Wailers, brought reggae music into the world's popular consciousness.

On Thursday, February 13th, Harvard University's Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will present the sixth annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture, entitled “Encarta Africana: W.E.B. Dubois to John Coltrane” at 1 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., whose many honors include a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” (1981), is one of the most celebrated African- American intellectuals teaching and writing today. A Yale University honors graduate, he became the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in its 800-year history.

Berklee's tradition of scholarly lectures as part of Black History Month was initiated by Dr. Warrick L. Carter, who served as Dean of Faculty and later as Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Berklee from 1984 to 1996.

In appreciation and recognition of his many enduring contributions to Berklee, the Board of Trustees established the annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture Series as an integral highlight of Berklee’s annual Black History Month Music Celebration. Previous presenters include jazz educator Dr. David Baker, BET Founder and CEO Robert L. Johnson, Harvard Professor of Education Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, GRAMMY-nominated jazz violinist Regina Carter, and GRAMMY-nominated vibraphonist Stefon Harris.

On Thursday, February 27th, the seven-time GRAMMY-winning a cappella group Take 6 will perform at 8:15 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center. Tickets for the Take 6 concert are $8 — $2 for seniors — and can be purchased at the Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, or by calling 617-747-2261.

For a complete schedule of events, visit the Berklee website at www.berklee.edu and click on “Black History Month Music Celebration.”

Berklee congratulates the 22 alumni and one faculty member who have been nominated in 19 categories for this year's GRAMMY Awards. The nominations in jazz-related categories include:

Record of the Year

“Don’t Know Why,” Norah Jones; Arif Mardin ’61 and Jay Newland ‘84, producers

Album of the Year

Come Away With Me , Norah Jones; Arif Mardin ’61 and Jay Newland ’84, producers

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

Come Away With Me , Arif Mardin ‘61 and Jay Newland ’84, engineers

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

Arif Mardin ‘61, Come Away With Me (Norah Jones)

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Natalie Cole & Diana Krall ‘83, “Better Than Anything”

Best Pop Instrumental Performance

Pat Metheny Group (Antonio Sanchez ‘98), “As It Is”

Best Contemporary Jazz Album

Pat Metheny Group (Antonio Sanchez ‘98), Speaking of Now

John Scofield Band (John Scofield ‘73, Adam Deitch ‘98), Überjam

Joe Zawinul ‘59, Faces & Places

Best Jazz Vocal Album

Diana Krall ‘83, Live in Paris

Luciana Souza ‘92, Brazilian Duos

Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove ‘89, Directions in Music

Best Latin Jazz Album

Caribbean Jazz Project (Dave Samuels, faculty, Dario Eskenazi ‘88), The Gathering

Best Instrumental Composition

Kenny Werner ‘68, “Inspiration”

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist

Alan Broadbent ’69, “I’m Glad There Is You”

Best Classical Crossover Album

Virtuosi , Gary Burton ’62 & Makoto Ozone ‘83

Also, three of the bands nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album include Berklee alumni. They are:

Dave Holland Big Band (Billy Kilson ‘85, Antonio Hart ‘91, Mark Gross ‘88) What Goes Around

Mingus Big Band (Seamus Blake ‘92, David Kikoski ‘81, Douglas Yates ‘89, Jeremy Pelt ‘98, Jaleel Shaw ’00, Frank Lacy ’81, Jeff Watts ’81), Tonight At Noon... Three of Four Shades of Love

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra (Billy Drewes ’74), Can I Persuade You?

Comments