UNT Division of Jazz Studies

The next meeting of the Floyd Graham Society is on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Denis DiBlasio and Steve Wiest are the featured guest artists. Read all about this performance and more in the 'Fessorgram (newsletter in PDF). From the newsletter: "The FLOYD GRAHAM SOCIETY is an organization of individuals devoted to the memory of (Pro-)’FESSOR FLOYD GRAHAM, who helped so many students at UNT, entertained thousands, and taught and inspired many more to become successful, each in his or her own field. To his memory and ideals this organization is dedicated. It was founded by J.B. Woodrum in 1972."

Rosana Eckert’s long-awaited second full-band CD, Small Hotel, will be released on October 26, 2009. Guided once again by the creative voice of husband/writer/producer Gary Eckert, the half-acoustic/half-electric project features new original songs and arrangements by Rosana as well as some very special contributions from world renowned jazz artists Marvin Stamm, Christian McBride, and Michele Weir.
www.rosanaeckert.com | CD release performances

Brave Combo will play the Syndicate on Tuesday Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. Admission is $5. That same day from 4-5 p.m. members of the band will host a Q&A session for music students in Kenton Hall.

Saxophonist and UNT alumnus Dave Pietro is on campus this week as guest artist with the small group program, which Stefan Karlsson directs. He plays a concert in Tuesday, Oct. 6 in Kenton Hall at 8 p.m. with Stefan Karlsson, piano, Fred Hamilton, bass, and Stockton Helbing, drums.

Fred Hamilton has released Afternoon of the Soul, a very eclectic CD recorded in Calcutta, Seattle and Denton featuring Ed Soph, Marc Seales from the University of Washington, Tarun Bhattacharya, Rob Avsharian and James Driscoll. There are solo, duet and trio versions of new music that was written during spring 2009 while on leave from UNT. It is available for digital download or hard copy purchase at www.fredhamilton.com.

James "Red" Holloway, saxophonist and vocalist, will appear with The James Gilyard Ensemble at The Palace Theatre in Corsicana, Texas on Oct. 10, 2009 at 7 p.m.

David Wild is one of the co-authors of The John Coltrane Reference along with Chris DeVito, Yasuhiro Fujioka, Wolf Schmaler, and General Editor Lewis Porter. He's also a new student in the UNT Jazz Studies master's program. Congratulations to David and his colleagues for the receiving the 2009 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.

Jason Levi, who will teach the new Music Business Entrepreneurship course next spring, has created a survey to gather information about prospective students and what would help them get the most out of the class. Please take this survey if you plan to take the course next spring or in a future semester.

Link to survey

Former trombone soloist with the UNT One O'Clcok Lab Band and student composer Sara Jacovino has been chosen as the 2009 recepient of the prestigious Sammy Nestico Award. The Top U.S. Air Force Jazz Ensemble, The Airmen of Note, will produce a professional quality recording of Sara's piece and perform the composition during the Jazz Heritage Series in Washington D.C. Additionally, Sara will be flown to Washington, D.C., for the performance and will receive a $2,000 follow on commission for a second work.

FYI To all UNT composers:
The deadline for submitting entries for the 2010 Sammy Nestico Award
is November 2, 2009. Application Info