Legendary jazz composer and arranger Bill Holman will join the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, directed by Bill Dobbins, and the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dave Rivello, as a guest artist on Thursday, Oct. 24. Holman will direct both groups in a program of his original compositions and arrangements in Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall at 8 p.m.
The jazz ensembles will present Holman’s arrangements of jazz standards, such as “If You Could See Me Now” by Tadd Dameron and “Raincheck” by Billy Strayhorm. The program will also include Holman’s original reworking for big band of Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.” Holman’s original compositions “Sunshinola,” “Zamboni,” and “The Bandicoot Affair” will also be featured.
While at Eastman, Holman will hold jazz composing and arranging sessions. He will also speak and answer questions in a Jazz Forum from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 23, in the Ray Wright Room (Room 120). The forum is open to the public.
Holman holds the nation’s highest honor in jazz: the title of NEA Jazz Master for his lifelong career accomplishments. He was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame in 2006 and received ASCAP’s Jazz Living Legend Award in 2008.
As an arranger and saxophonist, Holman has collaborated with artists such as Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnet, Mel Lewis, Woody Herman, and Sarah Vaughan. As a composer, he has been commissioned to write original works for leading jazz instrumentalists, including Zoot Sims, Lee Konitz, and Buddy De Franco, and for leading jazz and popular singers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, and Natalie Cole.
Additionally, Holman has written for big bands, including those led by Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Terry Gibbs, Gerry Mulligan, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, radio big bands throughout Europe and Scandinavia, and his own group, the Bill Holman Band. He has received 14 Grammy nominations and won three Grammy Awards.
This concert is free and open to the public.
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