CU Jazz Festival '02 features bassist Rufus Reid

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Rufus Reid Supplied by CU Department of Music

he Department of Music rolls out its 11th annual Cornell Jazz Festival, Friday through Sunday, April 19-21. This festival of four events, with headliner and guest artist Rufus Reid, is directed by Paul Merrill, director of the Cornell University Jazz Ensembles (CUJE).

All but one of the four concerts are free and open to the public. Admission will be charged for the Sunday, April 21, concert at Statler Auditorium ($5 student; $7 general) featuring Reid directing and playing with CUJE. Tickets are available at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office, the ticket center at Clinton House (273-4497), at Ithaca College's Dillingham Center box office, from members of the jazz ensembles and at the door.

· The Jazz Festival opens Friday at 8 p.m. with three of the Cornell ensembles performing in Statler Auditorium with guest drummer Bill Goodwin, who has played with such luminaries as Charles Lloyd, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Gary Burton and the Phil Woods Group.

The six-member Trommer Chamber Jazz Ensemble opens the concert and the Bisset Chamber Jazz Ensemble, of five players, follows. After intermission, CUJE II takes the stage to perform six numbers, including Dumpty, Dumpty, Dump by Ithaca College's Steve Brown.

Trumpeter, composer and educator Merrill serves as coach for both the Trommer Chamber Jazz Ensemble and the Bisset Chamber Jazz Ensemble, as well as music director for the Cornell Jazz Ensemble II. In 1995, he won a Downbeat award for his performance with the New Jazz Ensemble directed by Rufus Reid. Merrill toured Europe with the Grammy-nominated Phil Woods Big Band in 1998 and also recorded as a sideman for Schanachie and I-town Records. He holds a bachelor of music in jazz performance from William Paterson University and a master of music in performance from Ithaca College and is a lecturer of music and director of jazz bands at Cornell and at Ithaca College.

· On Saturday, a student chamber jazz ensemble, the Fabian Seip Group, will open the 1 p.m. show in Barnes Hall. The second half of the concert features the Paul Merrill Quartet, with Merrill and guitarist Steve Brown, Miles Brown on bass and Bill Goodwin on drums.

That night, the Rufus Reid Trio is the featured ensemble in Barnes Hall. The show opens at 8 p.m. with the Gussman Chamber Jazz Ensemble, which is coached by Merrill. The following set features the Rufus Reid Bass Ensemble, whose selections will be announced from the stage. After intermission, the Rufus Reid Triobassist Reid, pianist David Hazeltine and drummer Goodwinrounds out the evening.

Reid is one of the premiere bassists on the international jazz scene. His musical prowess makes him perfectly comfortable with a wide range of settings and artists, including Tenor Summit, saxophonists Jane Ira Bloom and Gary Bartz, guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianists Kenny Barron, Marian McPartland and Dick Hyman, big bands with Jimmy Heath and orchestras with Lalo Schifrin. His discography comprises over 250 recordings, including six under his own leadership. He served as professor and director of the Jazz Studies and Performance program at William Paterson University for 20 years. Published in 1974, his book, The Evolving Bassist, continues to be recognized as the industry standard. Reid's work has earned him honors such as the International Association of Jazz Educators' Humanitarian Award, Bass Player magazine's Jazz Educator Achievement Award, and the Charlie Parker Composition Award from the BMI Jazz Composer's Workshop.

Pianist David Hazeltine recent credits include work with Freddie Hubbard, James Moody, the Faddis-Hampton-Heath Sextet, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Louis Hayes Quintet and Marlena Shaw, for whom he serves as pianist, arranger and musical director. And recently he was spotlighted on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz radio program.

· The main event of this year's festival is the final concert Sunday at 8 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. It opens with the Appel Chamber Jazz Ensemble and, after intermission, the CUJE I takes the stage to perform six numbers, four of which were written or arranged by guest composer and bassist Rufus Reid. The first is the world premiere of Reid's The Gait Keeper, commissioned by CUJE, followed by Reid's Elegy. The big band also plays two of Reid's arrangements: Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight and Cedar Walton's Fantasy in "D."