Jazz Room Series

Sundays at 4:00 pm in Shea Center Auditorium (unless otherwise noted)

Admission: Public $15 • William Paterson Community and Seniors $12 • Non-William Paterson students $8 • William Paterson students free with ID. (unless otherwise noted)
$3 fee added on tickets purchased on show day

Each Jazz Room concert is preceded by a “Sittin’ In” meet-the-artist session one hour prior to performance. Free to all ticket holders. Audience members have a chance to meet and interact with that day’s artist in a question-answer format. (unless otherwise noted)


Allen and Sportiello

Pianist Rossano Sportiello Quartet
featuring saxophonist Harry Allen

Sunday, October 18, 2015, 4:00pm

This opening Jazz Room event promises to be memorable, featuring the much talked-about Italian pianist Rossano Sportiello as he recalls the spirit and clarity of Oscar Peterson and Dave McKenna, displaying some truly world-class stride piano chops. He will be joined on this concert by the swinging tenor saxist Harry Allen, a fixture on the New Jersey swing scene and increasingly heard at international jazz festivals and cruises.

Rossano Sportiello
Harry Allen


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Adnet and DaFonseca

Maucha Adnet with Duduka DaFonseca

Sunday, October 25, 2015, 4:00pm

Vocalist Maucha Adnet has become known as one of the world’s leading purveyors of Brazilian song, through her appearances with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall, and on trumpeter Randy Brecker’s award-winning CD Into the Sun. She is joined by the renowned Grammy-winning Brazilian drummer Duduka DaFonseca, who is a veteran of performances with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gerry Mulligan, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, Tom Harrell, and is a member of Rufus Reid’s Trio.

Maucha Adnet on Facebook
Duduka DaFonseca


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Vince Giordano/Nighthawks

Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks

Saturday, November 7, 2015, 8:00pm

Vince Giordano’s lifelong passion for early swing has led him to become one of the most world’s most authentic, high-energy voices of this style. Giordano’s eleven-piece band, the Nighthawks, is a gathering of stellar soloists who have spent years honing their tight ensemble to perfection. The band has appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, the Howard Hughes-based The Aviator, and won a Grammy for their work in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. In the last six months, WP alumnus Paul Wells has joined as the band’s featured drummer, adding his voice to an already powerfully swinging band.

Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks


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Jerry Dodgion

The Big Band with
Saxophonist/Composer Jerry Dodgion

Sunday, November 15, 2015, 4:00pm

Although many will recognize Dodgion’s membership in the original Thad Jones Mel Lewis sax section in 1966, he has also had a number of other historic roles, including his 1962 Soviet Union tour with Benny Goodman’s band, his longterm accompaniment of Billie Holliday as a member of the Vernon Alley quintet, and his featured role on one of Frank Sinatra’s few small-group recordings. This concert will showcase Dodgion’s saxophone and his compositions, including his widely played composition “Thank You” and his arrangement of Marian McPartland’s “Ambience.”

Jerry Dodgion on Facebook


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Davis/Cyrille/Kaneko/Sanchez

Richard Davis and Andrew Cyrille
with Aska Kaneko and Angelica Sanchez
CD recording session co-produced with Seed Artists

Sunday, November 22, 2015, 4:00pm

This live CD recording session features the iconic bass of Richard Davis and Andrew Cyrille on drums. Richard Davis can be heard on such landmark recordings as Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunchand others with Kenny Dorham, James Moody, Booker Ervin, and Pat Martino – and as the original bassist of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in their 1966 debut. They will be joined by composer/violinist Aksa Kaneko, internationally known and in demand as a new-music pioneer; and pianist and WP jazz alumnus Angelica Sanchez who has performed with Joe Lovano, Dave Ballou, Tim Berne and Mark Dresser.

Richard Davis
Andrew Cyrille
Aska Kaneko
Angelica Sanchez on All About Jazz


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Charles McPherson

Charles McPherson

Sunday, December 6, 2015, 4:00pm

A product of Detroit’s musical environment, saxophonist Charles McPherson is deservedly known as one of the great speakers of the bebop language. A veteran of performances with Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Phil Woods, and guest appearances on recordings with Charles Mingus, Barry Harris, Art Farmer, Kenny Drew and most recently with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, McPherson was the featured saxophonist in the Clint Eastwood film Bird. His iconic saxophone voice will provide and exciting finale to this fall’s Jazz Room Series.

Charles McPherson


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Clark Terry sits in with students

Clark Terry performs with the WP Jazz Orchestra onstage at the Jazz Room in Shea Auditorium.

About the Jazz Room Series

Now entering its thirty-fourth year, the Jazz Room Series is the longest-running campus-based jazz concert series in the nation. With a tradition of encompassing the complete spectrum of jazz from New Orleans to the avant-garde, it features world-class professionals and William Paterson student ensembles. There are three series of concerts each year, including the six-concert Fall and Spring Jazz Room Series, and the weeklong Summer Jazz Room held the third week of July.


The Jazz Room has received over two decades of continuous grant support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, as well as numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The series has been featured on national and metropolitan-area media, including recorded broadcasts and live CD recording sessions.


The Jazz Room Series is directly connected to the William Paterson Jazz Studies Program. Unique among college and university programs, the Jazz Studies program is one of the few in the nation with an emphasis on small-group playing, improvisation, and a genuine commitment to the jazz tradition. Founded by music faculty member Martin Krivin and joined by trumpeter/arranger Thad Jones in 1973, the program was led by bassist Rufus Reid for twenty years, then by the great jazz pianists James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, and most recently Bill Charlap, who accepted the position in fall 2015. The program is co-led and coordinated by David Demsey. The artist/teacher faculty is made up of world-class New York area professionals.


The program is a true jazz environment in which students learn firsthand about the jazz world and the requirements for becoming a successful professional musician. Jazz majors come to William Paterson this year from twenty-six states and six foreign countries, including a number of Fulbright Scholars.


The University also presents the Summer Jazz Workshop for high school students. The University's Summer Jazz Workshop, active since 1994, is a week-long intensive program in late July, featuring classes, small-group rehearsals and performances, and clinics taught by William Paterson resident faculty and special guest clinicians.


William Paterson University is home to the Living Jazz Archive, which includes the personal music archive of legendary trumpeter and educator Clark Terry, as well as the archives of Thad Jones, James Williams and Michael Brecker. The Living Jazz Archive provides students, researchers, and visitors with the opportunity to explore original jazz manuscripts and other materials that are an important part of jazz history.


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