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 The brainchild of world-renowned composer/saxophonist Larry Monroe and vocalist Donna McElroy, the seven concert series explores the interplay of two great art forms, Jazz and the American Songbook. Each evening will share anecdotes, the popular hits and the undiscovered treasures of a single composer. Click Here for Tickets or Call 617-923-8487
All performances at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20, $18 Arsenal members, $15 students and seniors (plus ticketing fees). Fall 2010 Installments: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2010 - GEORGE GERSHWIN
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2010 - IRVING BERLIN
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010 - COLE PORTER LARRY MONROE is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, clinician, and adjudicator who has taught and performed internationally for over forty years. He leads his own octet and has also performed with such artists as Lou Rawls, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Gary Burton, the Boston Pops Orchestra, and others. Mr. Monroe is a Vice President at Berklee College of Music, where he has served in various capacities for the past forty years.
DONNA McELROY Local jazz stylist and veteran of the music industry, this artist has done it all from Country to Rock and Roll to traditional Gospel to Broadway, and landed in Boston to enrich the Voice Department at Berklee with her wide range of vocal skills and anecdotal style of encouragement to young singers. She has taught at Berklee the last sixteen years, and been the mentor to thousands of young musicians. Refreshing in her approach to improvisation, Donna has a personality as sharp as the charts she sings with the seasoned members of the all-star band which accompanies her, featuring Larry Monroe on alto sax, Jeff Stout on trumpet, John Repucci on bass, Russell Hoffman on piano, and John Ramsay on drums
RUSSELL HOFFMANN is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music. He is featured as a pianist, recording artist, composer and arranger in many styles of contemporary music including jazz, latin and pop styles. He has served as musical director for Concord recording artist Marlena Shaw, and the University of Minnesota’s “Twelve Moods for Jazz” Langston Hughes project. He has performed with many music luminaries including Jack McDuff, James Moody, Rufus Reid, Joe Zawinul, Billy Hart, Donald Harrison, Bobbie McFerrin, Paula Cole, Peter Lietch, Ritchie Cole and many other’s. His compositions and arrangements have been performed internationally including the Plymouth Philharmonic, Berklee American Songbook Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Craig Ball and the White Heat Swing Orchestra, and the Tony Lada Quartet. As a clinician, Russ has appeared in Berklee’s Umbria Jazz Festival Summer Program, Perugia, Italy, Berklee in Taipei, ICOM Kuala Lampur Malaysia, Seoul Jazz Academy Seoul Korea, Pan School Tokyo, Japan, Heineken Jazz Fest San Juan Puerto Rico and the Berklee Annual Jazz festival. He is the author of workbooks on Keyboard Comping, Ensemble Performance and the Berklee Practice Method.
JOHN REPUCCI, a distinguished bassist and Assistant Chair of the Bass Department at Berklee, has performed with Jim Hall, Milt Jackson, Urbie Green, Lionel Hampton, Helen Humes, Anita O'Day, Kenny Barron, Chris Connors, Morgana King, Ray Bryant, Terrance Blanchard, Norman Simmons, Lee Konitz, Arnett Cobb, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and is the sextet bassist for the Herb Pomeroy Band. Recordings include two CDs with the Paul Schmeling Trio, Stardust and One for the Road, and At Long Last with the Tony Lada/Larry Monroe. JOHN RAMSAY Drummer, author, and educator has been drumming since 1962. A self-taught rock drummer, Ramsay has branched out and become versed in many different genres. In his early days, Ramsay studied with illustrious musicians like Max Roach, Alan Dawson, Art Blakey, Ed Soph, and Bob Moses. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a major in Afro-American music and jazz. Currently, Ramsay is Chair of the Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has also led and taught clinics in Japan, Italy, Finland, France, Israel, Greece, and Germany, in addition to the astounding number of U.S. workshops. As an author, Ramsay has written numerous educational texts, including The Drummer’s Complete Vocabulary as Taught by Alan Dawson. Recently, Ramsay has studied and conducted research in Cuba with Enrique Pla, Jose Luis Quintana, and José Eladio. Aside from his many educational and written endeavors, Ramsay has performed with Gregory Hines, Kevin Eubanks, Robin Eubanks, Wynton Marsalis, Brandford Marsalis, Cecil McBee, Terrence Blanchard, Eartha Kit, Donald Harrison, and Mick Goodrick. His talents are not limited to drumming, as he is also an accomplished producer and bandleader on an envious catalogue of albums.
JEFF STOUT, born in Trenton, New Jersey, began playing the trumpet at the early age of ten. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance. Jeff has played solo trumpet and recorded with the great “Buddy Rich Band” and has appeared with such jazz greats as Mel Torme’, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Joe Lovano, Curtis Fuller, John Scofield, Kurt Elling and Gary Burton - to name a few. He also tours with Al Kooper - of “Blood, Sweat & Tears” fame. In addition to his full time teaching schedule , as a “thirty-eight-year” Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he often holds clinics in various other educational formats. His teaching includes Trumpet, Jazz History, Ensembles, and Improvisation. Mr. Stout has recently performed in concerts in Norway, Japan, Italy, and New York. A local favorite, he is among the busiest, freelance jazz trumpeters in the New England area. |
