Trumpeter Randy Brecker to Perform with William Paterson University Jazz Orchestra as Part of Jazz Room Series on March 6 Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker will perform with the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra directed by David Demsey as part of William Paterson University’s spring 2016 Jazz Room series on Sunday, March 6. The performance begins at 4 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne. Prior to the concert, Brecker will be the guest for “Sittin’ In,” an informal discussion about jazz, at 3 p.m. in Shea Center. Admission is free to all Jazz Room ticket holders. Tickets are available at the Shea Center Box Office in advance at 973.720.2371 or wp-presents.org or on the day of the performance at $15 general admission, $12 senior citizens and William Paterson community, and $8 for non-William Paterson students. William Paterson students are admitted free with a valid I.D. There is a $3 fee for tickets purchased on the day of the show. The concert will draw on Brecker’s five-decade career as a performer. The program will include arrangements by Vince Mendoza and William Paterson adjunct jazz faculty member Jim McNeely, as well as the premiere of new charts arranged by William Paterson students. Brecker began his career in 1967 in the jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears, which he left to join the Horace Silver Quintet. He later joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before joining his late brother, saxophonist Michael Brecker, along with Barry Rodgers, Billy Cobham, and John Abercrombie to form the group Dreams. In 1975, he and Michael formed their own group, the Brecker Brothers Band, which earned seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and 1981. In 1992, after the brothers separated to pursue solo careers, they reunited for a world tour and created the triple Grammy-nominated recording, The Return of the Brecker Brothers. The follow-up, 1994’s Out of the Loop, was a double Grammy winner. Brecker has toured worldwide as a soloist, and has also been a member of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and Clark Terry’s Big Band. In 1997, Brecker released the recording, Into the Sun, and won his first Grammy as a solo artist. He later won Grammys in 2003 for 34th ‘n’ Lex; in 2007 for Randy Becker Live with the WDR Big Band, a live recording of his performance with his brother Michael at the Leverkuson Jazz Fest; and in 2008 for Randy in Brazil. His latest album, RandyPop!, was released in September 2015. For more information, call the University’s Shea Center at 973.720.2371 or visit wp-presents.org. # # # 02/21/16
