The School of Arts & Humanities at The University of Texas at Dallas today announced its 2007–2008 Jazz Concerts Season, which will be headlined by pianist Monty Alexander. All concerts will begin at 8 p.m.
UT Dallas’ first jazz residency features composer and guitarist Paul Bollenback and his quartet, who will perform Sept. 7 in the University’s Conference Center. Tickets are $20. Bollenback toured with Joey DeFrancesco for 16 years and released 14 recordings with DeFrancesco. In 1991, he was given the SESAC award for original music for two compositions featured on DeFrancesco’s Reboppin’. In 1997, Bollenback was named Musician of the Year at the Washington Area Music Awards. His album Brightness of Being was recently included on JazzWeek’s Top 100 CDs for 2006.
The One O’Clock Lab Band, the four-time Grammy-nominated premier performing ensemble of the University of North Texas’ world-famous jazz program, returns for the 11th year on Sept. 28 in the Conference Center. Tickets are $20. Directed by Neil Slater, the band has received awards from National Public Radio, VISA International, the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Dallas Observer Reader’s Poll. Regarded as unsurpassed among university jazz bands, the group has toured Europe, Japan, Mexico, Australia and Russia. Past members have gone on to perform in bands led by Branford Marsalis, Doc Severinsen, Harry Connick, Jr., Count Basie, David Lee Roth, Woody Herman and Bill Evans.
The second collaboration between UT Dallas and the Sammons Center brings the Monty Alexander Trio to the Conference Center on Jan. 26. Tickets are $20, or for $35, patrons may attend a pre-concert dinner and the performance. Alexander is a pianist who blends American jazz traditions with his own Jamaican roots to produce his unique sound. He has performed or recorded with artists as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Sly Dunbar and Sonny Rollins. In 1991, Alexander performed on Natalie Cole’s Unforgettable: With Love album, a tribute to her father Nat ‘King’ Cole, which won seven Grammy awards.
The Somewhere Over the Rainbow concert will take place Feb. 29 and March 1 in the University Theatre and will feature the music of Harold Arlen, performed by the UT Dallas Jazz Band and UT Dallas Chamber Singers. The University’s premier performing ensembles, under the respective direction of Kelly Durbin and Kathryn Evans, will collaborate for the eighth year in this free concert. Previous tributes have focused on such notable artists as The Manhattan Transfer, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and Cole Porter. This year’s performances will include the famous Arlen songs Over the Rainbow, Stormy Weather and I’ve Got the World on a String.
Kelly Durbin and Friends will perform April 4 in the Jonsson Performance Hall. Tickets are $15. Durbin, a UT Dallas faculty member and jazz pianist, brings together local musicians each year for a performance to delight both jazz connoisseurs and casual listeners alike. Durbin has performed with such notable musicians as David “Fathead” Newman, Hank Crawford, Cornell Dupree, Louis Hayes, James Clay, Chuck Rainey and Roseanne Vitro. He has played on recordings by James Gilyard, Chuck Willis, Wayne DeLano and Freddie Jones.
Additional information on each event is available on the UT Dallas Arts & Humanities website, http://ah.utdallas.edu. All programs are subject to change. UT Dallas ticket office hours for advance purchase are from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. To purchase tickets using Visa, MasterCard or Discover during those hours, please call 972-883-2552.
For information about the many musical, arts, theatre, dance and other performances and exhibitions held throughout the year at UT Dallas, please call 972-UTD-ARTS (972-883-2787) or e-mail utdarts@utdallas.edu. Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations may call 972-883-2982, Texas Relay Operator: 1-800-RELAYVV.
About the School of Arts & Humanities
The School of Arts & Humanities at UT Dallas offers a dynamic and integrated approach to education that fosters the critical, creative and communicative skills necessary for success in the culturally diverse, technologically rich and change-intensive environment of the 21st Century. For additional information about the School of Arts & Humanities, please visit the website at http://ah.utdallas.edu.
About UT Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 14,500 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UT Dallas, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.
Contact Kristi Barrus, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2972, kristi.barrus@utdallas.edu