Ensemble gives this Valentine's Day a jazz score in Barnes Hall

Merrill

Warm up in Barnes Hall on Monday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. with "Jazz for Valentine's Day." Cornell Jazz Ensembles director and trumpeter Paul R. Merrill will play the music of Don Ellis and more.

Ellis is the inventor of the Holton quarter-tone trumpet and is best known for his use of odd meters and electronic effects in a fusion of diverse styles. Joining Merrill is local pianist Molly MacMillan, Jazz Ensemble I (guest conducted by Cynthia Johnston Turner) and the New York City-based Matt Garrity Trio, with Dave Ambrosio on bass and Pete Smith on guitar.

Merrill, an Ithaca native as well as a trumpeter, composer and educator, has been performing since the age of 10. As a teenager he performed with Joe Salzano and Spiegle Wilcox and appeared at the Goombay Jazz Festival (Bahamas) with his quintet, Interplay. In 1995 Merrill won a Downbeat award for his performance with the New Jazz Ensemble, directed by Rufus Reid.

He has toured with Hank Roberts, Jamaican reggae star Half Pint, John Brown's Body and the Grammy-nominated Phil Woods Big Band. As a trumpeter and big-band director, he has performed and collaborated with Vincent Herring, Terell Stafford, Maria Schneider, John Mosca, Brian Lynch, Rufus Reid, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Alexander, Carl Allen, Kevin Mahogany, Darmon Meader, Claudio Roditi and Steve Gilmore, among others, while recording and arranging for Schanachie and I-town Records.

He currently is pursuing a D.M.A. in jazz studies at the Eastman School of Music.