“I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.”
– John Coltrane
On October 2, students from Milton’s advanced jazz combos looked back to 1959 and shined their light on classics from the year described by music faculty member Bob Sinicrope as “the single most significant year of major breakthroughs in jazz styles.” The concert event, Jazz 1959: The Beginning of Beyond, celebrated jazz innovations from 1959 and featured Milton’s top jazz talent performing selections from legendary artists Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and Ornette Coleman (to name a few).
Performances included selections from the following milestone albums:
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (modal jazz)
John Coltrane – Giant Steps (radical shift in harmonic schemes)
Dave Brubeck – Time Out (odd meter jazz)
Ornette Coleman – The Shape of Jazz to Come ( the beginning of free jazz)
Bill Evans – Portrait in Jazz (a shift in trio concept)
Luis Bonfa – Manha de Carnaval (Black Orpheus) (the beginning of bossa nova)
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross – The Swingers (the first vocal jazz group)
Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um (contains first jazz protest piece)
Horace Silver – Blowin’ the Blues Away (funky jazz)
Jazz Combos musicians included:
Vocals – Eileen Kim, Michael Abrams, Josh Cohen, Lukas Gaffney, Sam Kaplan
Flute – Catherine Coravos
Clarinet – Hannah Cho
Alto Sax – Kate Ballinger, Chris Hopkins, Sam Kaplan
Tenor Sax – Adrian Alston-Moore
Baritione Sax – James McHugh
Trombone – Steve Pawlak
Piano – Michael Abrams, Lukas Gaffney, Cam Lamoureux, Satto Tonegawa, Cydney Grannan, Vincent Kennedy
Guitar – Alex Conway, Andrew Beaudoin, Josh Cohen, Katy Bean, Louis Padnos
Bass – Jameson Williams, Andrew Beaudoin, Josh Cohen, Bob Sinicrope
Drums – Ethan Schneider, David Lee, Nick Deveaux
