Stanford Jazz Festival Week Six

>>Ambrose Akinmusire July 30

>>Tia Fuller & Healing Space July 31

>>Dena DeRose Trio w/Donald Bailey August 2nd

>>Agosto Trio w/Scofield, Grenadier & Stewart Aug 3rd

>> ALL STAR WEEK!

• Tickets still available for all shows (except Dena DeRose) at the Stanford Ticket Office or online at Ticketweb
• Info about our new TAKE 5! Discount Ticket Program
  
  
• Venue information & Directions
• Special Event info such as the Coho Jams

Ambrose Akinmusire & Friends
Wednesday July 30 | 7:30 pm | Dinkelspiel Auditorium - (moved from Campbell Recital Hall)
Tickets: $20 general | $10 students

What Stanford Jazz audiences have long known is now international jazz news: trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire is the real deal. Ambrose has been a favorite performer and teacher at the SJW for years, and with his first place finish in the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, he has cemented his reputation as one of the most promising jazz artists of his generation. As an improviser, he takes big risks that always seem to pay off brilliantly, and his expressive trumpet sound has an almost vocal quality that draws the listener in. His unique style reflects his diverse influences, including classical music, pop, and the avant-garde. An alumnus of Berkeley High School, he has a master’s degree from USC and studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Monk Institute. Ambrose has performed with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Vijay Iyer, Yosvany Terry, and Stefon Harris, to name but a few, and he is featured on keyboardist Alan Pasqua’s acclaimed 2007 album The Antisocial Club.

Tia Fuller & Healing Space
Thursday July 31 | 7:30 pm | Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $20 general | $10 students

Everyone needs an oasis of peace in our modern world. Alto saxophonist Tia Fuller says she wants listeners to find that sanctuary in her music and find the strength and inspiration “to relentlessly press toward a breakthrough into the next level.” From surging post-bop to sophisticated, R&B-influenced ballads, Fuller’s music offers plenty to inspire and delight. On her most recent album, Healing Space, Tia’s quartet and special guests perform ten original tunes with heartfelt conviction and passion. With a firm belief in the power of music to give comfort and solace, Tia dedicated two compositions, Katrina’s Prayer and Katrina’s Lullaby, to those affected by the hurricane and its aftermath. Growing up in a musical family in Colorado, Tia played piano from an early age and took up flute and alto saxophone as a teenager. After earning a master’s degree in jazz pedagogy and performance, she moved to New York and has played with such luminaries as Nancy Wilson, Ralph Peterson, Jr., Don Byron, and R&B superstar Beyoncé Knowles, in addition to leading her own groups.

Dena DeRose Trio with special guest Donald Bailey
Saturday August 2nd | 8 pm | Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $40 general | $20 students
(this show is sold out but a limited number of seats may be released at the door)

Dena DeRose needs no introduction to Stanford Jazz Festival regulars. Her unmistakable vocal style and inventive piano playing have drawn excited crowds to Stanford for years. Trained as a pianist from a young age, DeRose saw her early career threatened when wrist surgery forced her to put aside her main instrument. Fortunately, one night she took a friend’s dare and sang onstage at a club. By the time her piano chops recovered, it was clear that her vocal talents gave her a unique perspective on the piano and vice versa. Dena’s energetic, swinging, piano is the perfect accompaniment to her nuanced vocal phrasing, and the interplay of her talents imbues her interpretations of standards, original tunes, and little-known gems with personality and sophistication. She can craft a song into a story with humor, joy, drama, and blues.

“Dena DeRose sings jazz as if she had been at it her whole life long, and then some. She interprets standards in a deliciously laconic, no-nonsense manner, accompanying herself on piano with hard swinging grace.” – The New York Times

The Agosto Trio: John Scofield, Larry Grenadier, Bill Stewart

Sunday August 3 | 8:00 pm | Dinkelspiel Auditorium
Tickets: $32 General | $16 Students 18+

Sparks are guaranteed to fly when John Scofield, Larry Grenadier, and Bill Stewart take the stage as the Agosto Trio. Scofield is one of modern jazz’s top-tier guitarists, with an immediately identifiable style full of spiky melodies and unexpected nuances. Early in his career he played with a long list of jazz masters, including Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Gary Burton. Now, as a bandleader, he is known for undertaking unusual, ambitious projects and for exploring funky territory when he’s not playing straight-ahead jazz. Scofield finds kindred spirits in bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Bill Stewart, two musicians with whom he shares a good deal of musical history. Bill Stewart, a frequent collaborator of Scofield’s, is one of the few drummers with the versatility to work with both Pat Metheny and Maceo Parker. Larry Grenadier, perhaps best known for his consistently amazing work with pianist Brad Meldau’s trio, has the kind of spontaneous creativity that energizes everyone he plays with. The meeting of these three contemporary jazz giants is not to be missed.

“Scofield combines the chess-champ braininess of his solos with a taste for standard song forms and expansive bursts of volume… a manna for the straight ahead jazz fan.” – The Boston Phoenix

...ALL STAR WEEK!

Thanks To Our Sponsors
Whether through cash sponsorships or in-kind donations, the support of our corporate sponsors helps to make the Stanford Jazz Festival and Workshop possible. SJW gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors for their generosity: See’s Candies, Presenting Sponsor of the 2008 Stanford Jazz Festival; Merrill Lynch; Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc., KCSM FM 91.9, Official Radio Sponsor; Palo Alto Weekly, Official Print Media Sponsor, Stanford Park Hotel, Official Hotel Partner of the 2008 Stanford Jazz Festival; Department of Music at Stanford University; Gallien Krueger; Gordon Biersch Brewing Company; Mantra Palo Alto; Paiste Cymbals; Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel; Sonor Drums; Stanford Blood Center; Yamaha Band & Orchestral; Yamaha Percussion Division; Zildjian Cymbals.