News

William Paterson University Jazz Series Features Legendary Jazz Saxophonist Jimmy Heath on July 22

Jimmy Heath

Week-long Summer Jazz Room series line-up also includes drummer Winard Harper with the WP Summer Jazz Workshop Faculty on July 18; pianist and blues singer Johnny O’Neal on July 19; vocalist Karrin Allyson on July 20; cellist Erik Friedlander with his quartet Oscalypso on July 21; and legendary jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath with trombonist Steve Davis and the Heath Brothers Quartet on July 22

Jimmy Heath, jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master will perform with trombonist Steve Davis, and the Heath Brothers quartet featuring his brother, Albert “Tootie” Heath on drums, Jeb Patton on piano, and David Wong on bass on Friday, July 22 in the Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne.  The concert is part of the University’s 23^rd annual weeklong Summer Jazz Room series which runs from July 18 to July 22. The series will feature performances from drummer Winard Harper with the WP Summer Jazz Workshop Faculty, pianist and blues singer Johnny O’Neal, vocalist Karrin Allyson, and the Oscalypso quartet led by cellist Erik Friedlander.

The Summer Jazz Room series will host concerts every evening at 7:30 p.m. Tickets will be on sale through July 14 with an available $40 weeklong pass or single tickets for $10. For the past 22 summers, the wide range of jazz music from New Orleans to the avant-garde has drawn thousands of fans to the William Paterson campus. The series coincides with the University’s 23^rd annual Jazz Summer Workshop which is a week-long program featuring classes, rehearsals, and performances for high school jazz students featuring Jimmy Heath as artist-in-residence. William Paterson has been a pioneer in jazz education for 43 years with its internationally-renowned Jazz Studies Program and nationally recognized Living Jazz Archives and Jazz Room Series of concerts in the spring and fall.

The opening night of the series, Monday, July 18, will include a performance by drummer Winard Harper with the WP Summer Jazz Workshop Faculty. Harper is a dedicated tutor to many young jazz artists throughout the New York area. He will join WP Summer Jazz Workshop Faculty members Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet, Tim Newman on trombone, James Weidman on piano, and Marcus McLaurine on bass.

On Tuesday, July 19, vocalist, pianist, and blues legend Johnny O’Neal will call on the styles of Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson in his virtuosic interpretation of be-bop jazz. The man who former WP jazz director Mulgrew Miller labeled “a million dollar touch” has returned to the New York city jazz scene after a lengthy absence and continues to be a mentor to aspiring jazz musicians.

Vocalist Karrin Allyson will showcase her emotionally convincing jazz and pop style with Big Beat, a group of regional musicians led by WP music professor Stephen Marcone, on Wednesday, July 20. Allyson established her sound in Kansas City where she released the first of her eight albums on Concord records before moving to New York. She is a five-time Grammy nominee, one of which is for her latest trio album Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein with Kenny Barron and John Patitucci. 

Experimental jazz cellist and composer, Erik Friedlander and his quartet Oscalypso will perform on Thursday, July 21 in a tribute to the great jazz double bassist and cellist Oscar Pettiford. A member of the New York City jazz fusion group Topaz, Friedlander has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including The Mountain Goats, John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Alanis Morissette and Courtney Love. He created the original scores of several feature films and documentaries including Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites on PBS.

William Paterson’s 23^rd annual Summer Jazz Room series is funded, in part, by grants from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. For more information, contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371 or visit wp-presents.com.