INFORMATION FOR
William Paterson University’s long-running Jazz Room series featuring veteran jazz musicians and orchestras will return from February 20 through May 8, 2022 in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus in Wayne, NJ.
This year’s spring Jazz Room series line-up includes Jazzmeia Horn on Sunday, February 20, Randy Brecker with the WP Jazz Orchestra on Sunday, March 6, The Royal Bopsters on Sunday, March 27, Christian Sands Trio on Sunday, April 3, WP Latin Jazz Ensemble with guest saxophonist Leo Johnson on Sunday, April 10, and Artemis on Sunday, May 8.
Concerts will begin each Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public, $12 for WP faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, $8 for non-WP students, and WP students are admitted free. Tickets are an additional $3 if purchased on show day. For tickets, visit wppresents.org, or contact the box office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn will open the spring slate on Sunday, February 10. Horn, known for her emotionally powerful voice and music, went from the famous Booker T. Washington Arts High School to the New School in New York and was soon mentored by jazz vocal legends Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, and Bobby McFerrin before remarkably winning both the 2013 Sarah Vaughn Vocal Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition.
Kicking off the March performances is legendary trumpeter Randy Brecker with the WP Jazz Orchestra, directed by David Demsey, on Sunday, March 6. The concert will feature music spanning Brecker’s well-known career, which includes his virtuoso playing on bebop, standards, funk, and R&B from the historic Brecker Brothers repertoire with his late brother, master saxophonist Michael Brecker, whose archive is housed on campus. This concert will feature premieres of two new arrangements of Brecker originals by WP graduate arranging students, and new arrangements from Brecker’s recent CD with the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra.
The virtuoso quartet The Royal Bopsters will perform on Sunday, March 27. Voted the number one jazz vocal group in the country in the 2021 Jazz Times Critics’ Poll, The Bopsters bring a new and refreshing approach to the art of vocal jazz while paying tribute to their jazz heroes through intricate harmonies and wonderful energy. Amy London, Jeanne O’Connor, Dylan Pramuk, and WP faculty member and Jazz Room co-producer Pete McGuinness delve into vocal improvisation; vocalese, the art of penning lyrics to instrumental jazz solos; and their original songs and arrangements further the tradition of modern jazz, bebop, and the blues.
Acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Christian Sands will perform with his trio on Sunday, April 3. A five-time Grammy nominee, Sands was mentored by Dr. Billy Taylor, who featured him early on a WP Summer Jazz performance; former WP jazz director Mulgrew Miller also was a great proponent of Sands’ talents. He has been featured with such jazz giants as Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Ulysses Owens, and vocalist Gregory Porter, and his albums have included saxophonist Craig Handy and drummer Louis Hayes. Sands’ inventive and swinging creative approach to the piano trio tradition will make for an exciting concert.
The WP Latin Jazz Ensemble, with guest saxophonist Leo Johnson, will perform on the Shea stage on Sunday, April 10. Johnson is one of the true elders of the Newark jazz tradition, maintaining a broad career in the Latin and jazz worlds for decades. He has played in the bands of organists Bill Doggett, Rhoda Scott, Jack McDuff, and Jimmy McGriff, and one led by WP Latin jazz director Chico Mendoza. This concert combines Johnson’s long history with the students of WP’s Latin Jazz Ensemble, an unbeatable combination.
The spring series concludes on Sunday, May 8 with Artemis, one of the most in-demand ensembles on today’s jazz scene. The supergroup features Renee Rosnes, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Nicole Glover, Noriko Ueda, and Allison Miller, appearing worldwide and at the top of many reader and critics’ polls. Artemis features arrangements and original compositions by several of the members, which are a vehicle for their unique sound. Their much-acclaimed debut recording is on the prestigious Blue Note label and they were featured at the Newport Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and on NPR’s Jazz Night in America.
William Paterson University has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 40 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room Series of concerts each fall and spring.
The concert will be preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 3 p.m., one hour prior to each concert, in the Shea Recital Hall.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. The Jazz Room series also receives funding aid from Mid-Atlantic Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
To help ensure a safe and comfortable experience, all visitors must adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols. Learn more at wppresents.org under Visitor Info.
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