November 5, 2015

SVSU jazz concert features music of Wayne Shorter

Saginaw Valley State University jazz artist-in-residence Jeff Hall and five visiting musicians will join in concert to play the music of Wayne Shorter Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in SVSU's Rhea Miller Recital Hall. Admission is $12 for the general public and $5 for students and senior citizens.

A renowned jazz musician, Shorter is noted for his ability with both the saxophone and as a composer. He has been nicknamed “The Newark Flash” for his style of play. Shorter has played with artists such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. He also co-founded the jazz fusion group Weather Report.

A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Shorter has worked on various award-winning compositions, such as “Pinocchio” and “Nefertiti and Footprints.”

Hall is a Saginaw native and served as an adjunct instructor at SVSU from 1974-2005 when he accepted the artist-in-residence appointment. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston before returning home. He has toured with groups such as the Great Lakes Express and Method, while performing along with renowned jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Joe Henderson and the J.C. Heard Orchestra.

For this concert, Hall will be joined by five supporting musicians. They are:
•    Paul Finkbeiner, a trumpet player from Western Michigan University. He has performed around the world, from the Orange County Jazz Festival in Los Angeles and the Evergreen Jazz Festival in Colorado, to the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the symphonic hall of the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Spain.
•    Ron Kischuk, a trombonist in his sixth year as the artistic director of the Toledo Jazz Orchestra who teaches at Wayne State University and Oakland University. He heads The Masters of Music Big Band and owns both Brassworks Entertainment in Detroit and The Master of Music Conservatory in Royal Oak.
•    Randy Marsh, a drummer from Grand Rapids who has been regarded as one of the best in the state at his field. He comes from a musical family, as both his mother and father were musicians. Marsh has been drumming for almost 40 years. He currently plays in the organ-based trio, Organissimo.
•    Terry Newman, a bass player and Durand native who has performed at the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival, Greenwich Village Jazz Festival and the Texaco-New York Jazz Festival. Newman moved to New York in 1984 where he attended the Juilliard School of Music. He returned to Durand in 2002, and now performs with the Lansing-based Salsa Band Ritmo as well as the Detroit-based big band, Eddie Nuccilli.
•    Michael Zaporski, a pianist who has performed and taught internationally and locally for more than 30 years. He has served as an artist-in-residence and guest lecturer at the University of Dakar in Senegal West Africa, Albion College, Oakland University and many other institutions. Most recently, Zaporski performed a concert lecture tour in Poland.

For more information, call the SVSU Department of Music at 989-964-4159, or the SVSU box office at (989) 964-4261.