Saxophonist Steve Wilson to Play at Jazz Workshop

12/01/03

The Ithaca College Jazz Workshop, under the direction of Steve Brown '64, M.S. '68, will welcome guest saxophonist Steve Wilson to the stage for a free concert on Friday, December 5.

Beginning at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music, the performance will include the music of Ray Brown, Jimmy Heath, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and many others.

Steve Brown has a lengthy history with the Ithaca College Jazz Workshop, which was founded in 1957 as a student-led group. After serving as the jazz workshop's drummer during his freshman year as a School of Music student, he took the reins as director for the remainder of his undergraduate years. After three years teaching music on Long Island, Brown returned to the School of Music to work on his master's degree and once again took over directing the group. He joined the faculty in 1968 and has led the group ever since.

Wilson

At the Ithaca College performance he will welcome a guest saxophonist that the Palm Beach Post referred to as "flawless, gifted with fabulous technique and a first-rate sense of what's musical." Steve Wilson has performed and recorded with some of the greatest names in jazz, including Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, Billy Childs, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller.

Among Wilson's six recordings, perhaps the most provocative is Soulful Song. Released by MAXJAZZ last June, the album features original material played by Wilson's quartet as well as a number of guest artists performing the music of such diverse artists as Stevie Wonder, Chick Corea, Abbey Lincoln, Gil Scott-Heron, Earth, Wind & Fire, Patrice Rushen, and the Staple Singers.

"The album explores the music from what was then called 'black radio,' " Wilson says. "The broadcasts were particularly inclusive in their programming. On the same station one could experience the best of R&B, jazz, blues, gospel, comedy, and social commentary."

In addition to his performance schedule, Wilson is also a dedicated teacher. He served as an adjunct faculty member in the jazz program at William Paterson College in Wayne, New Jersey, and has led clinics at the Hartt and Manhattan Schools of Music. Recently, he completed a three-week residency for the award-winning organization CITYFOLK in public schools, colleges, and universities in the Dayton, Ohio, area.

For more information about this guest artist, visit Steve Wilson.

Contributed by Erik Kibelsbeck

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