“An Evening with the Oberlin Jazz Department” & Jazz Jam Join us for a special Wednesday night at BLU as we present the music of some of the top student ensembles from the prestigious Oberlin Conservatory of Music, capped off with an open jazz jam session!

Oberlin Conservatory has a long-standing tradition of excellence in music, boasting some of the most accomplished students, faculty, and guest artists in jazz.
 
We are excited to bring some of these talented student performers to BLU in what is sure to be an exciting look at the bright future of jazz! The evening will lead up to an open jazz jam session for all musicians and music lovers to take part in – get your tickets now for this very special Wednesday night presentation at BLU Jazz+!
 

About Oberlin Conservatory of Music

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s first courses in jazz studies were taught by Wendell Logan, the late founder and director of the Jazz Studies department, in 1973. In 1989, the conservatory established the department and majors that prepare students for professional careers and advanced study in jazz.
 
The conservatory is home to jazz faculty who helped to build the the jazz tradition and is on the vanguard of contemporary jazz. It also hosts equally influential visiting artists on a regular basis. A few of our officially sponsored visitors since 2011 includes Herbie Hancock, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Nicholas Payton, Dave Liebman, Rufus Reid, Esperanza Spalding, John Hollenbeck, Cyro Baptista, Leo Blanco, and Daphnes Prieto.

About the Faculty

Associate Professor of Jazz Arranging and five-time Grammy Award-winning producer Jay Ashby is the recipient of multiple nominations in categories including arranging and engineering. Ashby is also known for his performances with such music icons as Paquito D’Rivera, Paul Simon, Jon Faddis, Monty Alexander, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Randy Brecker, Slide Hampton, and Bennie Green, among many others.
 
A jazz legend in his own right, multi-Grammy Award-winner Gary Bartz has shared the studio and stage with some of the most important figures in jazz: Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, and many others. Today, he continues to break new ground as a bandleader, composer, and master of the alto and soprano saxophones.
 
Peter Dominguez is a renowned bassist and educator in the worlds of both jazz and classical music. He’s performed with Tommy Flanagan, Benny Carter, and Woody Shaw, toured with the American Sinfonietta, studied with bass legends like Richard Davis and Robert Gladstone, and helped found Michigan State University’s Jazz Studies program.
 
Robin Eubanks, the premiere jazz trombonist of his generation, has worked with an astonishing array of the world’s greatest performing artists, from Art Blakey and McCoy Tyner to the Talking Heads and numerous Broadway orchestras. A formidable composer, he’s earned grants from ASCAP and Chamber Music America, and his works are regularly performed by the Dave Holland Quintet, the Dave Holland Big Band, and the Mingus Big Band.
 
Bobby Ferrazza was inspired to teach after studying with guitar legends such as Joe Pass and performing with Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Joe Lovano, and other jazz icons. He’s taught at the Oberlin Conservatory—where he’s currently professor of Jazz Guitar and director of the Division of Jazz Studies—since 1988.
 
Jamey Haddad holds a unique position in the world of jazz and contemporary music. Haddad’s musical voice transcends styles and trends, and the universal quality of his playing has attracted many international collaborations. Professor of advanced improvisation and percussion at Oberlin, Haddad is regarded as one of the foremost world music and jazz percussionists in the U.S.
 
After his first “steady gig,” with Shirley Horn, Billy Hart went on to work with the biggest names in jazz: Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Harris, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Billy Harper, Clark Terry, the New York Jazz Quartet, Mingus Dynasty, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, and many others.
 
Eddie Henderson’s wildly diverse career began in a most appropriately lofty way: His first trumpet lessons as a young boy were given by Louis Armstrong. He has since earned acclaim for decades of performances with such luminaries as Pharoah Sanders, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Benny Golson, Max Roach, Jackie McClean, Dexter Gordon, Roy Haynes, and Joe Henderson.
 
A former member of Count Basie’s band, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and the Clark Terry Big Band, trumpeter Dennis Bradley Reynolds has performed with such legendary musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Rita Moreno, Patti Austin, Roberta Flack, Rosemary Clooney, and Ella Fitzgerald.
 
Jazz drummer Paul Samuels grew up in suburban Cleveland, where his father was a violinist for the Cleveland Orchestra and his mother was a visual artist. Samuels’ father took him to concerts performed by McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Sarah Vaughn—jazz innovators who inspired young Paul to become a performing artist and drummer.
 
Jazz pianist and organist Dan Wall began his career at 17, when he won DownBeat magazine’s Hall of Fame Scholarship. Since then, he’s cultivated his reputation with such artists as Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz, Al Cohn, Eddie Gomez, and Eddie Harris, and has earned accolades from Keyboard Player, Jazz Times, Billboard, and Variety, among other publications.

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