Alumnus James Terrile ‘87, partner, Capital Group; Grammy Award-nominated jazz bassist Rufus Reid, former director of William Paterson University’s Jazz Studies Program; late WP Professor Emeritus Martin Krivin, founder of the Jazz Studies Program; and New Jersey public radio station WBGO, which champions jazz to a worldwide audience, were honored at the 32nd Annual Legacy Award Gala, hosted by the William Paterson University Foundation on April 20, 2023.
Legacy Awards honor those who exemplify the leadership of our namesake, William Paterson, by demonstrating a strong support for public higher education in the state of New Jersey, and generosity to others through philanthropic leadership.
Terrile was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus, Reid was honored as a Distinguished Faculty/Staff member, Krivin was honored posthumously with the Distinguished Service Award, and WBGO (represented by President and CEO Steven Williams) was honored as Distinguished Organization.
During the event, Grammy Award-winning pianist and WP Jazz Studies Director Bill Charlap performed with Terrile and Reid, as as well as students in the WP Jazz Orchestra.
The gala, held at The Grove in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, is the University’s largest event to raise funds to support student scholarships, and thereby student success. All proceeds from the Gala directly fund academic scholarships at William Paterson University, directly affecting the lives of students—most of whom rely on scholarships to complete their education.
“The jazz students were a family really…we were just trying to carve places for ourselves in this cherished world we wanted to be a part of; at the end of the day, you were playing, you never arrived but you were always trying to move forward, and loving the process,” said Terrile during his remarks at the gala. He received his bachelor’s in jazz studies and performance from WP in 1987.
In 2011, Terrile created the Rufus Reid Endowed Music Scholarship fund on campus, in honor of his WP mentor and friend, in order to help future WP students pursue their craft and “follow their bliss”—the way he did.
He praised Reid and the Jazz Studies Program in his speech, noting that the hard work and level of excellence expected of him and his peers taught him important lessons that transcend the art of jazz. “Realizing you never reach the pinnacle but you’re always climbing. That’s how you follow your bliss through your whole life.”
Of the University's total scholarship support for students, this year, more than $1.4 million was made possible by our generous donors.
“At William Paterson, I have learned every day about that light in the darkness, while more and more doors have opened for me from my mentors and peers,” said Legacy Student Speaker James Bally during his remarks at the gala. He is a recipient of the Rufus Reid Endowed Scholarship, created by Terrile, “and that award affords me the opportunity to attend William Paterson University,” Bally said.
James Terrile is an equity portfolio manager at Capital Group. He has nearly three decades of experience, including 25 years at Capital Group. Prior to joining Capital in 1996, Terrile was an equity research analyst for Gabelli Asset Management Company in New York. A native of Ridgefield, New Jersey, Terrile is a graduate of William Paterson with a bachelor of music degree in jazz studies and performance, magna cum laude. He has been a long-time supporter of WP’s Jazz Studies Program, including the University’s Living Jazz Archives, a significant collection of materials that document the legacy of some of jazz’s greatest legends. In addition, in 2011, he established the Rufus Reid Endowed Music Scholarship Fund in honor of his WP mentor and friend, and through his support and matching gifts from Capital Group, the endowment has grown to more than $320,000. In addition to his degree from William Paterson, Terrile holds an MBA from Columbia Business School with Beta Gamma Sigma distinction. He and his family live in Los Angeles.
Rufus Reid is widely respected bassist, composer, and jazz educator, who served as William Paterson University’s director of jazz studies from 1979 to 1999, bringing international acclaim to one of the country’s first bachelor of music programs in jazz. He has recorded more than 500 albums, including 25 under his own name. As a composer, Reid has received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for Composition and two MacDowell Colony Grants, among others. His 2014 release, Quiet Pride – The Elizabeth Catlett Project, received two Grammy Award nominations, for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble” and “Best Instrumental Composition.” Reid’s book, The Evolving Bassist, in publication since 1974, remains the industry standard for double bass methodology. In addition to performing and composing, he continues to teach, conducting master classes, workshops, and residencies around the world. Reid is a graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor of music degree in performance. He lives in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Martin Krivin, a clarinetist, joined the William Paterson faculty in 1960. Six years later, he organized the first student jazz ensemble on campus, which marked the beginning of what would become the University’s internationally known Jazz Studies Program. In 1973, Krivin hired the great jazz trumpet player Thad Jones for the full-time faculty, making WP the first college or university to bring a major jazz performer onto the tenured faculty—now the model for numerous other schools. Krivin, who served as coordinator of jazz studies, also founded the Jazz Room Series in 1978, now in its 45th season and the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. He was also instrumental in establishing a weeklong summer jazz festival which evolved into the Summer Jazz Room, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023. He received numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, and the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council. He retired in 1992. A graduate of Indiana State University in Pennsylvania, Krivin earned a master’s degree in education from New York University and a doctorate in music from Iowa State University. He died in 2011 at the age of 81. His legacy lives on at William Paterson through the Martin and JoAnn Krivin Endowed Scholarship, established in 2013 through the efforts of Martin Krivin’s late nephew, Roger Staum, and his wife Paulette Staum.
WBGO 88.3 FM/Newark Public Radio is a non-profit, publicly funded arts and cultural institution, dedicated to the curation, presentation, and preservation of music created out of the African American experience. The station was the brainchild of an urban think tank whose members came together in Newark in the 1970s to effect change after the uprising of 1967. Marshalling an extraordinary group of city activists, and with the help of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, they established the first public radio station in New Jersey in 1979. Today, WBGO's broadcast signal is heard by listeners in the New York and New Jersey metro area on 88.3FM and globally via WBGO.org, the WBGO app, and multiple streaming services. The station’s 44-year relationship with WP’s Jazz Studies Program dates to the 1980s, when it was invited to record performances in Shea Center on campus for presentations on the NPR series, The American Jazz Radio Festival (AJRF), and has included numerous other recordings through the years. In addition, WBGO’s celebrations of April as Jazz Appreciation Month have featured numerous performances and interviews with WP jazz students and faculty.
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