Fairfield University's Jazz Ensemble with special guest Jimmy Greene, tenor saxophone | Press Releases

7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 5, 2013
Gonzaga Auditorium, Fairfield University

Fairfield University's Jazz Ensemble presents its Fall Jazz Concert with special guest Jimmy Greene, tenor saxophonist, at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 5, 2013 , at Fairfield University's Gonzaga Auditorium . Fairfield University's Jazz Ensemble is directed by Brian Q. Torff, Fairfield University's Director of Jazz and Popular Music, with student leader Chris Finelli. Tickets are $5 at the door.

Jimmy Greene is one of today's leading figures on the contemporary jazz scene. Saxophonist, composer, and educator, he is Assistant Professor of Music and Assistant Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT. He has 9 critically acclaimed recordings as a soloist. His newest album, which he is currently finishing, is called "Beautiful Life." It is an album inspired by and dedicated to the life of his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, who lost her life along with 19 other children and 6 educators in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy in Newtown, Conn. Proceeds from the album will go partly toward charities set up in Ana's name. The Fairfield University Jazz Ensemble's concert program will include a hymn written by Brian Torff in memory of Ana Marquez-Greene entitled "In Her Memory" and performed by Professor Michael Cooney of the Fairfield University music program.

Jimmy Greene graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Hartt School in 1997 and received his Masters in Music Education from Boston University in 2012. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Jazz Arts at the Manhattan School of Music. As a composer, he was awarded the prestigious 2005 ASCAP / IAJE Commission in honor of Ornette Coleman. Over 30 of his original compositions and arrangements have been recorded on the RCA Victor, SmallsLive, Criss Cross, NuJazz and RazDaz / Sunnyside labels. He is the 2013 recipient of the State of Connecticut Governor's Arts Award in Music and the 2012 recipient of the City of Hartford's Innovator Award in Music. He was named First Runner-Up in the 1996 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition and was named one of the"25 Young Rising Stars in Jazz" by DownBeat Magazine in 1999.

The Jimmy Greene Quartet has performed in jazz venues, festivals and clubs worldwide, including the Village Vanguard (New York), Le Club (Moscow), Casa del Jazz (Rome), Sunside Jazz Club (Paris), Red Sea Jazz Festival (Israel), Lapataia Jazz Festival (Uruguay) and Amazonas Jazz Festival (Brazil). In addition to his recordings and appearances as a leader, Greene appears on over 70 albums as a sideman, and has toured and/or recorded with Horace Silver, Tom Harrell, Freddie Hubbard, Harry Connick, Jr., Avishai Cohen, Kenny Barron, Lewis Nash, Steve Turre, the New Jazz Composers Octet and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among many others. As a member of Harry Connick Jr.'s Big Band, Greene is a featured soloist on 2 DVD releases, Harry for the Holidays , and Only You . He was featured as a soloist on Connick's 2003 holiday special aired on NBC, in addition to NBC's Today Show, and BBC's Parkinson Show. Jimmy Greene's mentors include Jackie McLean, Jim McNeely, Justin DiCioccio, David Liebman, Dave Santoro, Kris Jensen, Steve Davis, Ken Radnofsky and Janet Arms.

The Fairfield University Jazz Ensemble's program for the evening includes: "Some Other Blues" by John Coltrane, "Four On Six" by Wes Montgomery, "Ambiance," by Marian McPartland, "Sack o' Woe" by Cannonball Adderley, "Duet" with Jimmy Greene, sax, and Brian Torff, bass, " Braindead Megaphone Man" by Brian Torff, "Good Clean Fun" by Chris Finelli, "In Her Memory," by Brian Torff, performed by Professor Michael Cooney, piano, and "Something Miles Said," by Brian Torff.

The Fairfield University Jazz Ensemble consists of Chris Finelli on trumpet, Mike Mauro, Alexis Ellis, Amanda Ocasio, Jimmy Pulie, and Tim Valente on saxophones, Arthur Ashman, guest trombone player, Robby Schwartz on piano, John Domenico and Jamie Debicella on guitars, Brian Torff on bass, and DJ Horstmann, Chuck DeFilippo, and Zack Schneider on drums.

Gonzaga Auditorium is located in Gonzaga Hall on the campus of Fairfield University. Tickets will be available at the door of Gonzaga Auditorium the evening of the performance. For further information and directions, call (203) 254-4010 or 1-877-278-7396, or visit www.quickcenter.com .