Website

Twitter – @Jeremy Davenport

For nearly a decade, Jeremy Davenport has been a vital part of the New Orleans music scene. With his original lyrics and music, Jeremy infuses his unique style and mood of storytelling creating not only a modern edge, but also the distinct feeling of a lifestyle reminiscent of a time when Jazz was at its peak of popularity. He is known for his vocal and trumpet playing skills, as well as being a born entertainer. Davenport’s showing has tempted such performers as Sting, Paul McCartney, Harry Connick, Jr. and Diana Krall.

Jeremy Davenport was born in St. Louis, Missouri into a family of musicians. His mother has been a music educator for nearly 50 years and his father recently retired, after 40 years, from the St. Louis Symphony. From a young age Jeremy studied and played with members and guests of the St. Louis Symphony, which included an early introduction to Jazz great, Wynton Marsalis. Upon finishing high school, Jeremy was accepted to the acclaimed Manhattan School of Music, under the direction of Raymond Mase. He continued to develop a friendship with Marsalis and it was at this time that Wynton introduced Davenport to Harry Connick, Jr. Together they persuaded Jeremy to move to New Orleans. He enrolled at the University of New Orleans and began training under the patriarch of the Marsalis family, Ellis Marsalis – music educator and jazz pianist. Jeremy went on to play with Harry Connick, Jr.’s Big Band for 6 years touring around the world.

In 1996, Jeremy released his first album, self-titled “Jeremy Davenport” (Telarc, followed by “Maybe In a Dream” (Telarc) in 1998 and “Live at the Bistro” (AAM) in 2005. He was featured on the soundtrack to the Luke Perry film “Life Breath”, on the “RCA Victor” compilation, “The Only Jazz Album You’ll Ever Need”. He has been featured in GQ Magazine, People Magazine, Cosmo; and has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the David Letterman Show.

Jeremy Davenport can be found every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at The Davenport Lounge in the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans. He recently released an album titled, “We’ll Dance ‘Til Dawn” (Basin Street Records) – available nationally July 2009.

We will not have class 4/20.

Instead, please blog about a video of a class from last semester.

List of Fall 2010 Guests

Videos

Twitter – @johnnysketch

Website

GLEN DAVID ANDREWS hopped down from an outdoor stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May, leaving his trombone behind. He sang in a powerful raspy voice, inflected with just a hint of Louis Armstrong. Segueing from one song to another – the controversial 1920s classic “Black and Blue” to the more recent brass-band tune “Cell Block Nine,” for example – he sprinkled each with improvised lyrics. “It’s my time,” he shouted between numbers.
Andrews, 30, has a lanky 6-foot-4-inch body and a mercurial personality. The brass-band music and traditional jazz he was raised on are still his greatest loves. “The musicians that played in my neighborhood, they brought me out of the womb,” he says, not by way of metaphor. According to his mother, Vana Acker, when she was pregnant, Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen, a traditional-music icon and mentor to many musicians, came by and blew his horn outside the house. He said the sound of the tuba would induce labor. Glen David was born the next day.

As a young boy, whenever a second-line parade passed by, Andrews tagged along with his older brother, Derrick Tabb, who is now the snare drummer with the Rebirth Brass Band. Back then, Andrews played bass drum. At 12, he picked up the trombone. Rather than studying formally, he absorbed musical skills from neighbors such as “Frogman” Joseph, Harry Nance, Harold DeJean and other local heroes -  “the cream of the crop,” Andrews says. Soon he was playing for money alongside Tuba Fats in Jackson Square, in the middle of the French Quarter.

He was recruited into a brass band led by his younger cousin, Troy Andrews, and played in both the New Birth, Lil Rascals, and Tremé brass bands, among others, lending equal measures of musicianship and showmanship to each. Now he fronts his own high-powered ensemble that veers from traditional jazz to gospel, rock, blues and funk, all in the same show.

“Aside from being a great musician, Glen David has absorbed a fading tradition,” says Ben Jaffe, who runs Preservation Hall, where Andrews performs every month . “He’s a link for his generation to something important., but he also has a rare enthusiasm and energy that makes it all special and exciting for even casual listeners.” Though most contemporary brass-band musicians have embraced the more funk and pop-oriented sound of say, the Rebirth band, a shift that began some 30 years ago, Andrews always includes some of the old hymns, spirituals and trad-jazz tunes in his performances.

He released a live gospel CD, “Walking Through Heaven’s Gate”, on Threadhead Records in 2009, probably the first CD to have captured on record the entrancing quality of Andrews’ performances at venues like Jazzfest, Lincoln Center, Preservation Hall, Tipitina’s, and most powerfully of all, on the streets, where it all began.

He’s appeared in season one of HBO’s Treme, playing himself and performing one of his original tunes, Knock Wit Me, and has already filmed 2 episodes for season two. He has appeared in numerous documentaries, including Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans, by Lolis Eric Elie, Swiss filmmaker Peter Entell’s chronicle of the controversial, post-Katrina proposed closing of St. Augustine Church, Shake the Devil Off, and Spike Lee’s two epics about Katrina, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, and If Da Creek Don’t Rise.

Twitter: @tremeprince

IRVIN MAYFIELD AND NOJO BUILD ON THE LEGACY OF ELLIS MARSALIS, HAROLD BATTISTE AND JAMES BLACK DURING MASTERS MONTH

Month-long series combines performances and educational seminars by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins, Ed Petersen, and the launch of a modern jazz masters archive at UNO.

(March 9, 2011) – New Orleans, LA:  Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) in partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO) announced today the launch of Masters Month, a celebration of the modern jazz masters of New Orleans, including pianist and Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, producer, composer and arranger Harold Battiste, and the late drummer James Black.  The musical canon of these Jazz masters will be explored at weekly performances at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, at special master classes for UNO students and at workshops for school-age students at the New Orleans Jazz Institute’s Saturday Music School.  Also, the complete work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black will be collected and archived at the University of New Orleans.  Each of the performances will also be recorded at UNO.

“By performing, teaching and archiving the work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black, we are fortifying their legacy, so that musicians and audiences can experience their masterful music today as well as in the future.” states Irvin Mayfield, Grammy award-winning trumpeter and director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO.  “One of NOJO’s missions is to highlight the origins of Jazz, and Masters Month allows us to explore and capture the music of some of the most prolific musicians of the modern jazz era of New Orleans.” adds Ronald Markham, CEO and President of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

Led by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, the Coca-Cola Endowed Chair and Director of Jazz Studies; and NOJO members, Victor Atkins, the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Music; and Ed Petersen, Associate Chair of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies, March Masters Month includes the following:

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta Hotel

• Tuesday, March 15, 8pm – The Music of Ellis Marsalis featuring Victor Atkins
• Tuesday, March 22, 8pm – The Music of Harold Battiste featuring Ed Petersen
• Tuesday, March 29, 8pm – The Music of James Black featuring Steve Masakowski
• Friday, April 8, 2:30-4:30 pm – A Celebration of the Masters featuring Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins and Ed Petersen during French Quarter Festival

UNO Campus: Irvin Mayfield’s “Music Inside Out” class, 6pm

• Wednesday, March 16 – The Music of Ellis Marsalis by Victor Atkins
• Wednesday, March, 23 – The Music of Harold Battiste by Ed Petersen
• Wednesday, March 30 – The Music of James Black by Steve Masakowski

UNO Jazz Studies Master Class: Friday, April 1, 2:30-4:30 pm – Combined Master Class with live performances, UNO PAC 103

Saturday Music School, New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO

School-age students will learn the compositions of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black.

• March 19, 9am-11am: Workshop with Ed Petersen
• March 26, 9am-11am: Workshop with Victor Atkins
• April 2, 9am-11am: Workshop with Steve Masakowski
• Saturday, April 9th, 4-5pm: Professors to perform one song each with Saturday Music School students at FQF

Archive & Recording

UNO professors are collecting the works of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black. Also the following commissions will be recorded at UNO:

• The Music of Ellis Marsalis, Victor Atkins
• The Music of Harold Battiste, Ed Petersen
• The Music of James Black, Steve Masakowski

About NOJO

The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) is a performing-arts organization whose goal is to strengthen the business of jazz through performances, touring, recordings, education and media platforms. Founded in 2002 by trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, NOJO’s mission is to inspire freedom and culture in the individual and the global community by creating authentic, engaging jazz experiences, while celebrating the origins and transforming the future of jazz. A non-profit organization, NOJO is engaged in innovative partnerships with Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, where it established the New Orleans Jazz Institute and its Saturday Music School for children. In 2010, NOJO won a Grammy Award for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its debut CD Book One. To learn more about NOJO visit, www.thenojo.com

About NOJI

The New Orleans Jazz Institute serves to promote education, collaboration, and leadership in the jazz community. Founded in partnership with University of New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2008, the mission of the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI) is to link UNO’s strengths in jazz education with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s strengths in professional practice and performance. NOJI serves to promote creative excellence and best practices in Jazz composition, performance, scholarship, importation, exportation, and education.

…

NEW ORLEANS MODERN JAZZ MASTERS BIOGRAPHIES

ELLIS MARSALIS

Ellis Marsalis is regarded as the premier modern jazz pianist in New Orleans. Born on November 14, 1934, he began formal music studies at the Xavier University junior school of music at age eleven. After high school Marsalis enrolled in Dillard University as a clarinet major. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education in 1955. Marsalis spent the next year working as an assistant manager in his father’s motel business. The following year Marsalis then joined the U.S. Marine Corps and while stationed in southern California began honing his skills as a pianist on a television show entitled Dress Blues and a radio show called Leatherneck Songbook.  After completing a stint in the Marine Corps Marsalis returned to New Orleans and married Dolores Ferdinand, a New Orleanian, who bore him six sons; Branford, Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo, Miboya and Jason.

In 1964 Marsalis moved his wife and family of, at the time, four sons to the small rural Louisiana town of Breux Bridge where he became a school band and choral director at Carver High School. After two years, Marsalis returning to New Orleans and began freelancing on the local music scene. Between 1966 and 1974 Marsalis would perform at the Playboy Club, the Al Hirt nightclub, and Lu and Charles. He entered the teaching profession again as an adjunct professor at Xavier University.

In 1974, Marsalis returned to school and worked on a Masters Degree at Loyola University. In the same year, Marsalis also secured a teaching position at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a new Magnet school for the arts. He would spend the next twelve years at NOCCA as an instrumental music teacher with a Jazz studies emphasis.

In 1986 Marsalis accepted the position of Commonwealth Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He would spend two of the three years as coordinator of Jazz Studies before returning to New Orleans and the University of New Orleans to become the Director of the Coca-Cola endowed Chair of Jazz Studies Department.

Marsalis received Honorary Doctorate degrees from his alma mater Dillard University in 1989 and Ball State University in 1997. Marsalis enjoys national recognition and has been a guest on several network television shows.  He continues to be active as a performing pianist leading his own group and has several recordings on the CBS-SONY label. He is currently developing his own recording label, ELM RECORDS, with his wife Dolores and son Jason.

On August 10, 2001 Marsalis officially retired from the University of New Orleans after twelve years as the first occupant of the Coca Cola Jazz Chair and the Director of the Jazz Studies Division.

JAMES BLACK

Though he’s little known outside of New Orleans and never recorded an album under his own name, drummer James Black was a Crescent City legend capable of performing everything from complex modernist jazz to gritty funk. An accomplished composer as well, Black had a reputation for being an irascible bandleader, intimidating with his personality just as much as his skill.

Born in New Orleans on February 1, 1940, Black soaked up the city’s trademark “second line” rhythms from a young age, and by the early ’60s was already doing session work for the likes of Fats Domino. His main interest was jazz and he played in a group with the young Ellis Marsalis on piano and Nat Perrilliat on sax. Nat Adderley (along with brother Cannonball) used all three on his 1962 session In the Bag, to which Black contributed two compositions. The following year, Marsalis cut an underrated album of modern jazz called Monkey Puzzle; this time out Black handled four of the seven compositions, including the intricate 5/4 piece Magnolia Triangle, which ranks as perhaps his greatest work. Black went on to play with Yusef Lateef and Lionel Hampton in the mid-’60s, although his career was interrupted by a stint in the Angola State Penitentiary (during which time he actually played in a prison band with blues pianist James Booker and saxophonist Charles Neville).

In the late ’60s, Black paid the bills with R&B gigs around New Orleans, and in 1968 caught on at the Scram label as a house drummer. He played on Eddie Bo’s Hook and Sling, helping to make it one of the great New Orleans funk singles, and soon took his place alongside Smokey Johnson and the Meters’ Ziggy Modeliste as one of the city’s top funky drummers. Meanwhile, he continued to play jazz on the side as part of Ellis Marsalis’ band ELM Music Company; they took up residency at Lu and Charlie’s beginning in 1972 and became local favorites. During the ’70s, Black also led his own group, the James Black Ensemble, which often featured his longtime girlfriend “Sister Mary” Bonette on vocals. He attempted several times to record a full-length album, including once for the Sound of New Orleans label and another time at Allen Toussaint’s studio, but the sessions never progressed beyond a few tracks. Black continued performing in New Orleans into the ’80s, still playing with Ellis Marsalis (as well as Marsalis’ then-teenage pupil, Harry Connick Jr.); he also served as the drummer for the 1982 Marsalis Family album Fathers and Sons. Black died of a drug overdose on August 30, 1988.

In 2002, the Night Train label assembled a compilation of mostly unreleased tracks, many from Black’s aborted LP sessions; I Need Altitude: Rare and Unreleased New Orleans Jazz and Funk, 1968-1978 ran the gamut from heavy funk and psychedelic soul to soul-jazz, and featured several of the drummer’s own vocals. In the spring of 2003, Ellis and Wynton Marsalis presented a program of Black compositions as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center series.

-Biography by Steve Huey

HAROLD BATTISTE

A native of New Orleans, Harrold Battiste is a professional composer, arranger, performer and teacher.  A graduate of Dillard University, Battiste is a critically acclaimed publisher, producer, conductor and musical director for studio, stage, motion pictures and television with credits in jazz, classical, blues and pop.

He co-produced and arranged the career-launching recordings You Send Me by Sam Cooke, I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher, You Talk Too Much by Joe Jones, I Know by Barbara George YaYa by Lee Dorsey.  Battiste produced the first albums Gris Gris, Babylon and Gumbo introducing New Orleans artist Mac Rebennack as Dr. John.

From 1976 to 1977, Battiste served as Musical Director to the Sonny & Cher Show and as Touring Musical Director for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis in 1977.

He initiated the first African-American musician-owned record label All For One and publishing company At Last Pub. Co. On this label, Battiste recorded the first contemporary jazz artist in New Orleans including clarinetist Alvin Batiste, drummers Ed Blackwell and James Black, saxophonists Nat Perrilliat and Alvin “Red” Tyler, and pianist Ellis Marsalis.

Battiste joined Ellis Marsalis in 1989 on the Jazz Studies faculty at the University of New Orleans after 30 years in Los Angeles.

Harold Battiste has served on the:

• Louisiana State Music Commission
• New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation School of Music (Founding Board)
• Louisiana Jazz Federation (past President)
• Black Music Hall of Fame (Executive Board)
• African Cultural Endowment (President)
• Congo Square Cultural Collective
• The Department of the Interior’s National Park Service appointed him to the New Orleans Jazz Park Commission.
• WWOZ Community Advisory Board

IRVIN MAYFIELD AND NOJO BUILD ON THE LEGACY OF ELLIS MARSALIS, HAROLD BATTISTE AND JAMES BLACK DURING MASTERS MONTH

Month-long series combines performances and educational seminars by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins, Ed Petersen, and the launch of a modern jazz masters archive at UNO.

(March 9, 2011) – New Orleans, LA:  Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) in partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO) announced today the launch of Masters Month, a celebration of the modern jazz masters of New Orleans, including pianist and Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, producer, composer and arranger Harold Battiste, and the late drummer James Black.  The musical canon of these Jazz masters will be explored at weekly performances at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, at special master classes for UNO students and at workshops for school-age students at the New Orleans Jazz Institute’s Saturday Music School.  Also, the complete work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black will be collected and archived at the University of New Orleans.  Each of the performances will also be recorded at UNO.

“By performing, teaching and archiving the work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black, we are fortifying their legacy, so that musicians and audiences can experience their masterful music today as well as in the future.” states Irvin Mayfield, Grammy award-winning trumpeter and director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO.  “One of NOJO’s missions is to highlight the origins of Jazz, and Masters Month allows us to explore and capture the music of some of the most prolific musicians of the modern jazz era of New Orleans.” adds Ronald Markham, CEO and President of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

Led by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, the Coca-Cola Endowed Chair and Director of Jazz Studies; and NOJO members, Victor Atkins, the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Music; and Ed Petersen, Associate Chair of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies, March Masters Month includes the following:

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta Hotel

• Tuesday, March 15, 8pm – The Music of Ellis Marsalis featuring Victor Atkins
• Tuesday, March 22, 8pm – The Music of Harold Battiste featuring Ed Petersen
• Tuesday, March 29, 8pm – The Music of James Black featuring Steve Masakowski
• Friday, April 8, 2:30-4:30 pm – A Celebration of the Masters featuring Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins and Ed Petersen during French Quarter Festival

UNO Campus: Irvin Mayfield’s “Music Inside Out” class, 6pm

• Wednesday, March 16 – The Music of Ellis Marsalis by Victor Atkins
• Wednesday, March, 23 – The Music of Harold Battiste by Ed Petersen
• Wednesday, March 30 – The Music of James Black by Steve Masakowski

UNO Jazz Studies Master Class: Friday, April 1, 2:30-4:30 pm – Combined Master Class with live performances, UNO PAC 103

Saturday Music School, New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO

School-age students will learn the compositions of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black.

• March 19, 9am-11am: Workshop with Ed Petersen
• March 26, 9am-11am: Workshop with Victor Atkins
• April 2, 9am-11am: Workshop with Steve Masakowski
• Saturday, April 9th, 4-5pm: Professors to perform one song each with Saturday Music School students at FQF

Archive & Recording

UNO professors are collecting the works of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black. Also the following commissions will be recorded at UNO:

• The Music of Ellis Marsalis, Victor Atkins
• The Music of Harold Battiste, Ed Petersen
• The Music of James Black, Steve Masakowski

…

About NOJO

The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) is a performing-arts organization whose goal is to strengthen the business of jazz through performances, touring, recordings, education and media platforms. Founded in 2002 by trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, NOJO’s mission is to inspire freedom and culture in the individual and the global community by creating authentic, engaging jazz experiences, while celebrating the origins and transforming the future of jazz. A non-profit organization, NOJO is engaged in innovative partnerships with Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, where it established the New Orleans Jazz Institute and its Saturday Music School for children. In 2010, NOJO won a Grammy Award for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its debut CD Book One. To learn more about NOJO visit, www.thenojo.com

About NOJI

The New Orleans Jazz Institute serves to promote education, collaboration, and leadership in the jazz community. Founded in partnership with University of New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2008, the mission of the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI) is to link UNO’s strengths in jazz education with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s strengths in professional practice and performance. NOJI serves to promote creative excellence and best practices in Jazz composition, performance, scholarship, importation, exportation, and education.

JAMES BLACK

Though he’s little known outside of New Orleans and never recorded an album under his own name, drummer James Black was a Crescent City legend capable of performing everything from complex modernist jazz to gritty funk. An accomplished composer as well, Black had a reputation for being an irascible bandleader, intimidating with his personality just as much as his skill.

Born in New Orleans on February 1, 1940, Black soaked up the city’s trademark “second line” rhythms from a young age, and by the early ’60s was already doing session work for the likes of Fats Domino. His main interest was jazz and he played in a group with the young Ellis Marsalis on piano and Nat Perrilliat on sax. Nat Adderley (along with brother Cannonball) used all three on his 1962 session In the Bag, to which Black contributed two compositions. The following year, Marsalis cut an underrated album of modern jazz called Monkey Puzzle; this time out Black handled four of the seven compositions, including the intricate 5/4 piece Magnolia Triangle, which ranks as perhaps his greatest work. Black went on to play with Yusef Lateef and Lionel Hampton in the mid-’60s, although his career was interrupted by a stint in the Angola State Penitentiary (during which time he actually played in a prison band with blues pianist James Booker and saxophonist Charles Neville).

In the late ’60s, Black paid the bills with R&B gigs around New Orleans, and in 1968 caught on at the Scram label as a house drummer. He played on Eddie Bo’s Hook and Sling, helping to make it one of the great New Orleans funk singles, and soon took his place alongside Smokey Johnson and the Meters’ Ziggy Modeliste as one of the city’s top funky drummers. Meanwhile, he continued to play jazz on the side as part of Ellis Marsalis’ band ELM Music Company; they took up residency at Lu and Charlie’s beginning in 1972 and became local favorites. During the ’70s, Black also led his own group, the James Black Ensemble, which often featured his longtime girlfriend “Sister Mary” Bonette on vocals. He attempted several times to record a full-length album, including once for the Sound of New Orleans label and another time at Allen Toussaint’s studio, but the sessions never progressed beyond a few tracks. Black continued performing in New Orleans into the ’80s, still playing with Ellis Marsalis (as well as Marsalis’ then-teenage pupil, Harry Connick Jr.); he also served as the drummer for the 1982 Marsalis Family album Fathers and Sons. Black died of a drug overdose on August 30, 1988.

In 2002, the Night Train label assembled a compilation of mostly unreleased tracks, many from Black’s aborted LP sessions; I Need Altitude: Rare and Unreleased New Orleans Jazz and Funk, 1968-1978 ran the gamut from heavy funk and psychedelic soul to soul-jazz, and featured several of the drummer’s own vocals. In the spring of 2003, Ellis and Wynton Marsalis presented a program of Black compositions as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center series.

-Biography by Steve Huey

IRVIN MAYFIELD AND NOJO BUILD ON THE LEGACY OF ELLIS MARSALIS, HAROLD BATTISTE AND JAMES BLACK DURING MASTERS MONTH

Month-long series combines performances and educational seminars by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins, Ed Petersen, and the launch of a modern jazz masters archive at UNO.

(March 9, 2011) – New Orleans, LA:  Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) in partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO) announced today the launch of Masters Month, a celebration of the modern jazz masters of New Orleans, including pianist and Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, producer, composer and arranger Harold Battiste, and the late drummer James Black.  The musical canon of these Jazz masters will be explored at weekly performances at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, at special master classes for UNO students and at workshops for school-age students at the New Orleans Jazz Institute’s Saturday Music School.  Also, the complete work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black will be collected and archived at the University of New Orleans.  Each of the performances will also be recorded at UNO.

“By performing, teaching and archiving the work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black, we are fortifying their legacy, so that musicians and audiences can experience their masterful music today as well as in the future.” states Irvin Mayfield, Grammy award-winning trumpeter and director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO.  “One of NOJO’s missions is to highlight the origins of Jazz, and Masters Month allows us to explore and capture the music of some of the most prolific musicians of the modern jazz era of New Orleans.” adds Ronald Markham, CEO and President of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

Led by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, the Coca-Cola Endowed Chair and Director of Jazz Studies; and NOJO members, Victor Atkins, the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Music; and Ed Petersen, Associate Chair of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies, March Masters Month includes the following:

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta Hotel

• Tuesday, March 15, 8pm – The Music of Ellis Marsalis featuring Victor Atkins
• Tuesday, March 22, 8pm – The Music of Harold Battiste featuring Ed Petersen
• Tuesday, March 29, 8pm – The Music of James Black featuring Steve Masakowski
• Friday, April 8, 2:30-4:30 pm – A Celebration of the Masters featuring Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins and Ed Petersen during French Quarter Festival

UNO Campus: Irvin Mayfield’s “Music Inside Out” class, 6pm

• Wednesday, March 16 – The Music of Ellis Marsalis by Victor Atkins
• Wednesday, March, 23 – The Music of Harold Battiste by Ed Petersen
• Wednesday, March 30 – The Music of James Black by Steve Masakowski

UNO Jazz Studies Master Class: Friday, April 1, 2:30-4:30 pm – Combined Master Class with live performances, UNO PAC 103

Saturday Music School, New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO

School-age students will learn the compositions of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black.

• March 19, 9am-11am: Workshop with Ed Petersen
• March 26, 9am-11am: Workshop with Victor Atkins
• April 2, 9am-11am: Workshop with Steve Masakowski
• Saturday, April 9th, 4-5pm: Professors to perform one song each with Saturday Music School students at FQF

Archive & Recording

UNO professors are collecting the works of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black. Also the following commissions will be recorded at UNO:

• The Music of Ellis Marsalis, Victor Atkins
• The Music of Harold Battiste, Ed Petersen
• The Music of James Black, Steve Masakowski

About NOJO

The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) is a performing-arts organization whose goal is to strengthen the business of jazz through performances, touring, recordings, education and media platforms. Founded in 2002 by trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, NOJO’s mission is to inspire freedom and culture in the individual and the global community by creating authentic, engaging jazz experiences, while celebrating the origins and transforming the future of jazz. A non-profit organization, NOJO is engaged in innovative partnerships with Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, where it established the New Orleans Jazz Institute and its Saturday Music School for children. In 2010, NOJO won a Grammy Award for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its debut CD Book One. To learn more about NOJO visit, www.thenojo.com

About NOJI

The New Orleans Jazz Institute serves to promote education, collaboration, and leadership in the jazz community. Founded in partnership with University of New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2008, the mission of the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI) is to link UNO’s strengths in jazz education with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s strengths in professional practice and performance. NOJI serves to promote creative excellence and best practices in Jazz composition, performance, scholarship, importation, exportation, and education.

NEW ORLEANS MODERN JAZZ MASTERS BIOGRAPHIES

HAROLD BATTISTE

A native of New Orleans, Harrold Battiste is a professional composer, arranger, performer and teacher.  A graduate of Dillard University, Battiste is a critically acclaimed publisher, producer, conductor and musical director for studio, stage, motion pictures and television with credits in jazz, classical, blues and pop.

He co-produced and arranged the career-launching recordings You Send Me by Sam Cooke, I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher, You Talk Too Much by Joe Jones, I Know by Barbara George YaYa by Lee Dorsey.  Battiste produced the first albums Gris Gris, Babylon and Gumbo introducing New Orleans artist Mac Rebennack as Dr. John.

From 1976 to 1977, Battiste served as Musical Director to the Sonny & Cher Show and as Touring Musical Director for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis in 1977.

He initiated the first African-American musician-owned record label All For One and publishing company At Last Pub. Co. On this label, Battiste recorded the first contemporary jazz artist in New Orleans including clarinetist Alvin Batiste, drummers Ed Blackwell and James Black, saxophonists Nat Perrilliat and Alvin “Red” Tyler, and pianist Ellis Marsalis.

Battiste joined Ellis Marsalis in 1989 on the Jazz Studies faculty at the University of New Orleans after 30 years in Los Angeles.

Harold Battiste has served on the:

• Louisiana State Music Commission
• New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation School of Music (Founding Board)
• Louisiana Jazz Federation (past President)
• Black Music Hall of Fame (Executive Board)
• African Cultural Endowment (President)
• Congo Square Cultural Collective
• The Department of the Interior’s National Park Service appointed him to the New Orleans Jazz Park Commission.
• WWOZ Community Advisory Board

IRVIN MAYFIELD AND NOJO BUILD ON THE LEGACY OF ELLIS MARSALIS, HAROLD BATTISTE AND JAMES BLACK DURING MASTERS MONTH

Month-long series combines performances and educational seminars by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins, Ed Petersen, and the launch of a modern jazz masters archive at UNO.

(March 9, 2011) – New Orleans, LA:  Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) in partnership with the University of New Orleans (UNO) announced today the launch of Masters Month, a celebration of the modern jazz masters of New Orleans, including pianist and Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, producer, composer and arranger Harold Battiste, and the late drummer James Black.  The musical canon of these Jazz masters will be explored at weekly performances at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, at special master classes for UNO students and at workshops for school-age students at the New Orleans Jazz Institute’s Saturday Music School.  Also, the complete work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black will be collected and archived at the University of New Orleans.  Each of the performances will also be recorded at UNO.

“By performing, teaching and archiving the work of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black, we are fortifying their legacy, so that musicians and audiences can experience their masterful music today as well as in the future.” states Irvin Mayfield, Grammy award-winning trumpeter and director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO.  “One of NOJO’s missions is to highlight the origins of Jazz, and Masters Month allows us to explore and capture the music of some of the most prolific musicians of the modern jazz era of New Orleans.” adds Ronald Markham, CEO and President of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

Led by UNO professors Steve Masakowski, the Coca-Cola Endowed Chair and Director of Jazz Studies; and NOJO members, Victor Atkins, the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Music; and Ed Petersen, Associate Chair of the Department of Music and Coordinator of Jazz Studies, March Masters Month includes the following:

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta Hotel

• Tuesday, March 15, 8pm – The Music of Ellis Marsalis featuring Victor Atkins
• Tuesday, March 22, 8pm – The Music of Harold Battiste featuring Ed Petersen
• Tuesday, March 29, 8pm – The Music of James Black featuring Steve Masakowski
• Friday, April 8, 2:30-4:30 pm – A Celebration of the Masters featuring Steve Masakowski, Victor Atkins and Ed Petersen during French Quarter Festival

UNO Campus: Irvin Mayfield’s “Music Inside Out” class, 6pm

• Wednesday, March 16 – The Music of Ellis Marsalis by Victor Atkins
• Wednesday, March, 23 – The Music of Harold Battiste by Ed Petersen
• Wednesday, March 30 – The Music of James Black by Steve Masakowski

UNO Jazz Studies Master Class: Friday, April 1, 2:30-4:30 pm – Combined Master Class with live performances, UNO PAC 103

Saturday Music School, New Orleans Jazz Institute at UNO

School-age students will learn the compositions of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black.

• March 19, 9am-11am: Workshop with Ed Petersen
• March 26, 9am-11am: Workshop with Victor Atkins
• April 2, 9am-11am: Workshop with Steve Masakowski
• Saturday, April 9th, 4-5pm: Professors to perform one song each with Saturday Music School students at FQF

Archive & Recording

UNO professors are collecting the works of Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and James Black. Also the following commissions will be recorded at UNO:

• The Music of Ellis Marsalis, Victor Atkins
• The Music of Harold Battiste, Ed Petersen
• The Music of James Black, Steve Masakowski

About NOJO

The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) is a performing-arts organization whose goal is to strengthen the business of jazz through performances, touring, recordings, education and media platforms. Founded in 2002 by trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, NOJO’s mission is to inspire freedom and culture in the individual and the global community by creating authentic, engaging jazz experiences, while celebrating the origins and transforming the future of jazz. A non-profit organization, NOJO is engaged in innovative partnerships with Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, where it established the New Orleans Jazz Institute and its Saturday Music School for children. In 2010, NOJO won a Grammy Award for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its debut CD Book One. To learn more about NOJO visit, www.thenojo.com

About NOJI

The New Orleans Jazz Institute serves to promote education, collaboration, and leadership in the jazz community. Founded in partnership with University of New Orleans and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2008, the mission of the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI) is to link UNO’s strengths in jazz education with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s strengths in professional practice and performance. NOJI serves to promote creative excellence and best practices in Jazz composition, performance, scholarship, importation, exportation, and education.

NEW ORLEANS MODERN JAZZ MASTERS BIOGRAPHIES

ELLIS MARSALIS

Ellis Marsalis is regarded as the premier modern jazz pianist in New Orleans. Born on November 14, 1934, he began formal music studies at the Xavier University junior school of music at age eleven. After high school Marsalis enrolled in Dillard University as a clarinet major. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education in 1955. Marsalis spent the next year working as an assistant manager in his father’s motel business. The following year Marsalis then joined the U.S. Marine Corps and while stationed in southern California began honing his skills as a pianist on a television show entitled Dress Blues and a radio show called Leatherneck Songbook.  After completing a stint in the Marine Corps Marsalis returned to New Orleans and married Dolores Ferdinand, a New Orleanian, who bore him six sons; Branford, Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo, Miboya and Jason.

In 1964 Marsalis moved his wife and family of, at the time, four sons to the small rural Louisiana town of Breux Bridge where he became a school band and choral director at Carver High School. After two years, Marsalis returning to New Orleans and began freelancing on the local music scene. Between 1966 and 1974 Marsalis would perform at the Playboy Club, the Al Hirt nightclub, and Lu and Charles. He entered the teaching profession again as an adjunct professor at Xavier University.

In 1974, Marsalis returned to school and worked on a Masters Degree at Loyola University. In the same year, Marsalis also secured a teaching position at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, a new Magnet school for the arts. He would spend the next twelve years at NOCCA as an instrumental music teacher with a Jazz studies emphasis.

In 1986 Marsalis accepted the position of Commonwealth Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He would spend two of the three years as coordinator of Jazz Studies before returning to New Orleans and the University of New Orleans to become the Director of the Coca-Cola endowed Chair of Jazz Studies Department.

Marsalis received Honorary Doctorate degrees from his alma mater Dillard University in 1989 and Ball State University in 1997. Marsalis enjoys national recognition and has been a guest on several network television shows.  He continues to be active as a performing pianist leading his own group and has several recordings on the CBS-SONY label. He is currently developing his own recording label, ELM RECORDS, with his wife Dolores and son Jason.

On August 10, 2001 Marsalis officially retired from the University of New Orleans after twelve years as the first occupant of the Coca Cola Jazz Chair and the Director of the Jazz Studies Division.

Website: www.galacticfunk.com

Twitter: @stanton_moore & @galacticfunk

Galactic was born in the early ’90s, after two Washington DC punks – guitarist Jeff Raines and bassist Robert Mercurio – relocated to New Orleans and found themselves intoxicated by the sounds of the scene that nurtured The Meters, Professor Longhair, the Neville Brothers and Dr. John. Armed with the rhythmic tradition of its hometown, the six-piece future funk outfit has spent over a decade tearing through venues across the world, leaving hordes of die-hard Galactic junkies in its wake. Constantly weaving modern and retrospective styles into its own trademark jazz-funk-rock fusion, Galactic has created a far-reaching canon informed by ongoing influence from a wide range of genres, including hip-hop, blues, pop, and electronica. Now, with six albums and countless landmark live shows to its credit, Galactic is once again headed to new territory—for now, as an instrumental powerhouse.

With the departure of longtime vocalist Theryl “Houseman” DeClouet in late 2004, Galactic’s remaining five members forged a bold revisitation of their roots as an instrumental act. Anchored by the seamless rhythm team of bassist Robert Mercurio and drummer Stanton Moore, Galactic’s lineup has always represented a diverse set of influences that unite in one, multi-dimensional sound. With Jeff Raines on guitar, Rich Vogel on Hammond B3 organ and keyboards, and Ben Ellman on saxophone, Galactic applies a sense of classic analog funk to a fresh, progressive dimension of creative freedom favoring organic development over stylistic homogeneity. Jazz, hard rock, country blues, and world music styles all find their way into Galactic’s slinky fusion. Each member of the band views the return to instrumental exploration as an opportunity for Galactic to revisit one of its strongest attributes. While the band has always embraced stylistic changes and relished its musical adventures, its instrumental chops have never wavered.

This current drive to develop new instrumental music marks a deliberate shift from the Galactic’s last major creative venture. The making of the 2003 albumRuckus with producer Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gorillaz) found Galactic writing concise vocal tunes with catchy pop hooks and plenty of electronic edge. While early albums such as Crazyhorse Mongoose (1997) and Late for the Future (2000) set up transcendental funk jams from loosely composed songs, Ruckus’ 13 tracks presented a cross-section of influences from Galactic’s decade-long career, wrapped into a tight set of songs that showcased individual musicianship as well as overall vision.

Today, Galactic’s organic instrumentals maintain a stronghold among effects, loops, and other modern electronic techniques. In the studio and on stage, Galactic displays a remarkable ability to present modern material with retrospective styling. New York Times critic Jon Pareles noted that Galactic’s songs are, “carried by rhythms that distill memories of Mardi Gras parades, traditional jazz, and rhythm and blues…adding up to some of the most danceable music on earth.”

A sought-after act on the international live music circuit, Galactic has completed countless U.S. tours, four European tours, and four highly successful trips to Japan. At home and abroad, the band has shared tours and shows with an astonishing range of concert blockbusters, including Live, Counting Crows, the Allman Brothers Band, The Roots, Widespread Panic, B.B. King, and Jurassic 5. Now touring as an instrumental act for the first time in 10 years, Galactic is currently in pre-production for a new album that will display further creative development and a new emphasis on instrumental exploration. On the road and in its own New Orleans studio, Galactic continues to reinvent itself, inspiring its ever-growing fan base with ongoing artistic evolution, synthesizing the most thrilling elements of vintage and contemporary styles to keep the party rolling.

Stanton Moore

Stanton grew up in Metairie, New Orleans so he was exposed to the music of the city through his father. While his original drumming style was based on hard rock (he once drummed for band called Oxenthrust), he soon found his love of the funk. “I’ve been around [the New Orleans music scene] my whole life. I’d go to the parade’s and hear the bands passin’ by and during Mardi Gras you hear music like Professor Longhair, the Meters no matter where you go. No matter if you’re into it or not, you still hear it. Then eventually I started getting interested in it. My dad was a really big fan of all Mardi Gras music so we would listen to that music together. Then pretty soon I realized who it was I was listening to and the significance of it.” Being around the heavy rhythms of New Orleans his whole life led to the inevitable…Stanton took up the drums. “I always loved the drums. I played all the time but I was just into having a good time and not really working very hard and not being very disciplined. But then I decided that if this is what I wanted to do, I better get serious about it.” And that’s what he did!

Moore was soon taking lessons from the legendary drummer Johnny Vidacovich who Stanton credits as teaching him the findamental patterns that he has built his drumming style around. He also learned a lot from listening to Zigaboo Modeliste, drummer from the Meters. “New Orleans drumming is more about feel than anything else. That’s something I learned from Zigaboo. On one hand many of his grooves are quite sophisticated and not easily learned. But his playing has a very linear quality at the same time which I have tried to incorporate when I play a street beat.”

It was his diverse musical roots and influences that soon lead Stanton to playing in a wide array of funk, jazz and klezmer bands in New Orleans. Although most of his time is taken up being the driving force behind Galactic, Stanton also plays in his own Moore and More lineup along with jamming with other bands when in New Orleans which has garnered him the nickname by his bandmates ‘Stanton Moore the drumming whore.” “So when we started to get into this style of music, we were checking out bands like the Meters and James Brown and all that stuff. Then I slowly got into stuff like Lou Donaldson and Grant Green, and tried to expand with our own voice from there. Just kind of digest all that. And now, we feel like we’ve digested that and are trying to go in our own direction. What I’m trying to do is go back to the roots of the rhythms of New Orleans -the rhythms of the Mardi Gras Indians and the brass bands- and do something that’s my own.”

Robert Mercurio

Robert Mercurio, along with Jeff Raines, grew up in the Washington D.C. area. Together, they played in a number of different local bands. When it was time to pick a college to attend, the city the school was in was more important than the school. They wanted to be in New Orleans. “We heard about the Meters and knew about the whole scene,” Mercurio says. “We knew we wanted to play music but we also had to go to school.” So Robert ended up at Tulane University (Raines at Loyola). But the real classes were conducted in the city’s music clubs. On their first night in town, Mercurio and Raines went to Benny’s, an after hours club where late night funk and blues went down. The club has now been closed down due to city officials declaring the club a neighborhood nuisance. “We fell in love with that scene.” It was places like Benny’s and Tipitina’s that kept Mercurio in New Orleans during his tenure at Tulane, and is what keeps him there to this day!

“I remember when I was a freshman in college going to shows at Tipitina’s that were totally packed and thinking to myself ‘Maybe someday I’ll play here.’ Looking up at that Professor Longhair banner…imagining what it would look like from the stage, instead of from the audience. We never intended for [Galactic] to be this successful. I never thought I’d really be making a living off of music. But I can’t say I’m not happy about it.”