UVA Jazz Ensemble Fall 2024 Concert
On Saturday, November 9th, at 8:00 PM in Old Cabell Auditorium, the UVA Jazz Ensemble, directed by John D’earth, will present their fall 2024 concert.
Further information on this event will be available on October 5th, 2024.
The UVA Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of trumpeter/composer John D’earth, has become one of the more creative college big bands in the country. The group’s performances feature classic repertoire from across the spectrum of jazz history, jazz arrangements of music from diverse genres, and original compositions and arrangements by the students and the director.
The ensemble comprises of undergraduates, graduate students, and community members. They offer two concerts per academic year and present numerous guest artists from our area, and from the national and international jazz scene.
Giving two major concerts a year in Old Cabell Auditorium and various extra performances, the Jazz Ensemble is an extended big band that includes flutes, vocalists, and, sometimes, other instruments not normally associated with big band music.
The Jazz Ensemble encourages its members to immerse themselves in the art form called jazz, to understand its history, and to listen, repeatedly, to the music. Jazz, and the blues from which it sprang, are both gifts from Black America to the rest of the world. Jazz gives music back to the musicians by teaching two things: 1. master musical language on your instrument, and 2. Tell your own story; “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken,” as Oscar Wilde exhorted. The UVA Jazz Ensemble avidly pursues these twin goals of expertise and creative expression.
The UVA Jazz Program focuses on developing the individual voices of our jazz students. It follows the Duke Ellington model of how to build a jazz orchestra: allow and encourage the distinct musical personalities of the musicians to create the overall sound and direction of the music.
John D'earth is the University of Virginia's Director of Jazz Performance. John D’earth plays trumpet with a striking, original sound and a technique that he mobilizes for spitfire improvisation and gripping melodies. A consummate jazz artist, composer, and gifted educator, he draws inspiration from collaborators on the bandstand, from students, and from nature. Internationally known for his contributions in straight-ahead jazz (D’earth served as foil to guitarist Emily Remler, added brawn to the George Gruntz Big Band, and played on Bob Moses’ early recordings) he exhibits omnivorous musical tastes including free improvisation, mainstream rock, and modern classical music. Since he joined the musicians union at age fourteen this wildly eclectic musician has performed across the globe. He appears on over 100 recordings on vinyl, CDs, film, and video in a career that spans the analogue and digital eras. Despite a commanding musical presence he possesses an uncanny ability to bring out the best in musicians with whom he shares the bandstand. All of this is evident on his newly released album, Coin Of The Realm, (Cosmology Records 2023). This song cycle of originals, recorded with his long-standing quintet, reveals a musician who, in his seventies, is still evolving and very much in his creative prime. Find out more about John D'earth here.
To find out more about Jazz events at UVA, visit https://music.virginia.edu/jazz-events.
Tickets are $10 General Admission / $9 UVA Faculty & Staff / $5 students / Free for UVA Students who reserve in advance. Tickets can be purchased at the UVA Arts Box Office, on-line at https://artsboxoffice.virginia.edu/, by phone (434) 924-3376 or in person at the Arts Box Office or at the door on the night of the concert. The UVA Arts Box Office is located on the John and Betsy Casteen Arts Grounds, inside the lobby of the UVA Drama Building at 109 Culbreth Road. For directions, please visit UVA Visitors Map or view directions via Google Maps.
Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). At UVA, parking is available in the C1 lot off McCormick Rd, and the Central Grounds Parking Garage on Emmet St. is walking distance to the hall. Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall.
All events are subject to change.
For more information, please call 434.924.3052 or email music@virginia.edu.