University News
WIU Jazz Studio Orchestra Featured at Northshore JazzFest; New Review for CD
January 17, 2008
MACOMB, IL - - Western Illinois University's Jazz Studio Orchestra, under the direction of Director of Jazz Studies John Cooper, will be the featured guest ensemble at the 31st Annual Northshore JazzFest Saturday, Jan. 19 hosted by Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, IL.
A premier jazz festival for junior high and high schools in the greater Chicago suburban area, the Northshore JazzFest will host some 38 schools with nearly 70 jazz ensembles and combos for clinics and Class 1A-4A competition as well as a non-competition category.
Western's Jazz Studio Combo I is scheduled to perform a set at 12 p.m. The featured performance by Western Illinois' Jazz Studio Orchestra with guest artist Roger Ingram is a 6 p.m. concert in the Norman E. Watson Auditorium, following the Decatur (IL) MacArthur Jazz Ensemble, winners of the 2007 Northshore JazzFest.
"We will be performing a showcase concert of mostly original compositions by students and faculty," Cooper said. "Having Roger Ingram as our guest artist and playing with us is an extraordinary experience for our students in jazz studies, as well as for the students at the Northshore JazzFest."
Ingram, who is a trumpeter on the Grammy-nominated Bill Holman Band: Hommage CD, performs with famous musicians and bands worldwide. His discography is filled with some of the best loved names in jazz today: Harry Connick Jr., "Oh My Nola," "Chanson du Vieux Carré," "All These People" (with Kim Burrell); "Only You;" and "Blue Light, Red Light;" Woody Herman's Band, "50th Anniversary Tour;" Ray Charles, "Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival" DVD and "The Spirit of Christmas;" Maynard Ferguson, "Big Bop Nouveau" and "Footpath Café;" and Winton Marsalis, "They Came To Swing" – Jazz At Lincoln Center and "Reeltime."
The worldclass musician also played lead trumpet on the John Cooper Jazz Orchestra, which recorded the "Baecker Jazz Worship Service" CD, released Jan. 3. The CD is available for purchase at www.baeckermusic.citymax.com, online at CDBaby.com and locally at the Secret Garden, 2 W. Side Square in downtown Macomb.
Cooper was commissioned by Western Illinois alumni Garth and Terry Baecker of Pekin (IL) to write a jazz worship service commemorating the golden anniversary of the founding of the United Church of Christ (UCC), featuring the UCC anniversary theme "Let it Shine."
He wrote the seven-movement composition that is integrated into a worship service specifically for Western's JSO, which presented the work at the UCC celebration service April 21, 2007 at the First Federated Church of Peoria. The composition draws elements from a complete spectrum of the history of jazz, including a hard bop contrafact, a New Orleans-tinged strut and thick jazz harmony.
To record the CD last Oct. 7-8, Cooper chose "some of the best players in the world" to form the John Cooper Jazz Orchestra.
According to Marie Asner's Jan. 9 review on The Phantom Tollbooth: "This is a jazz service that could stand alone in a concert hall. If you preferred to omit the "Gospel" and "Doxology," there would be 43 minutes of jazz music. By including "Gospel" and "Doxology," you could, also, minister to the audience. A choice to be made depending on your particular situation. By being versatile, the CD could go several ways from good listening to performance."
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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