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The Legacy Continues - introducing the 2015 Jazz Heritage Series

  • Published
  • By Technical Sgt. Kevin Cerovich
Washington, D.C. --  This fall brings the return of the much-anticipated Jazz Heritage Series hosted by the Airmen of Note. The star-studded roster will include vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, pianist Bill Mays and saxophonist Walt Weiskopf.

Few bands today can claim a lineage with the breadth and scope of the Airmen of Note. The band was created in 1950 to carry on the legacy of Maj. Glenn Miller's Army Air Corps dance band. Since then it has done that and so much more, including recording and performing with the best jazz musicians in the world on a regular basis. From Arturo Sandoval to Sarah Vaughan, the Airmen of Note has continually shared the stage with the jazz world's best and brightest. This year will be no different.

The Jazz Heritage series will kick off on Friday, September 25 with three-time Grammy-nominated vibraphonist and composer, Stefon Harris. Harris' unique fiery and elegant sound will be joined in kind by the Airmen of Note as they perform together both on stage and in the studio for later broadcast and streaming. Harris' career has skyrocketed since graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. The late 90s and early 2000s garnered him dozens of prestigious accolades, including the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center and being named "best mallet player" in the 2004 Jazz Times Critics Poll. Harris teaches at New York University, but still finds time to perform and educate around the world, both solo and with his innovative group Blackout.

Friday, October 23 brings a pair of seasoned jazz veterans, Marvin Stamm and Bill Mays. The incomparable jazz journalist Leonard Feather said of Marvin Stamm: "Mr. Stamm is an accomplished performer whose technical skill is used as a means to stimulating original ends." First discovered by Stan Kenton in 1961, Stamm has gone on to perform with a veritable "who's who" of jazz from Benny Goodman to Wes Montgomery. His distinct artistry will be well complimented by the second guest of the concert, pianist-composer Bill Mays. This concert will in some ways be a homecoming to Mays, as he started his career as a bandsman in the U.S. Navy at the Naval School of Music in Washington, D.C. After a successful stint in Los Angeles, Mays moved to New York where he went on to perform with the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Rufis Reid and Clark Terry, among others.

The last concert of the 2015 Jazz Heritage Series will be on Friday, November 20, featuring critically-acclaimed saxophonist and composer Walt Weiskopf. One would be hard-pressed to find a saxophonist working today with a more distinct writing and playing style than Weiskopf. His sound has been forged in the fires of experience alongside some of the most innovative and well-known voices in jazz. At the tender age of 21, Weiskopf was plucked from New York and cast into the cauldron of the world-famous Buddy Rich Big Band. Since those formative years, Weiskopf has gone on to release 12 CDs as a leader and performed as a sideman with numerous artists. He is also an educator and has written many popular books on the saxophone. Chris Hovan from All About Jazz summed it up when he called Weiskopf, "... easily one of the most mature and fully individualistic saxophonists and composers to come along in the last 10 years."

Since 1990, the Jazz Heritage Series has documented the Airmen of Note with some of the world's finest jazz artists, and this year's will be a very rich addition to that impressive list. The concerts will certainly be exciting for the several thousand people in Washington, D.C. who get to attend them. The radio broadcasts and their subsequent preservation on The U.S. Air Force Band's website, however, will reach millions. The Airmen of Note and the entire Air Force Band are proud to use the awesome power of music to inspire audiences worldwide and represent the excellence of the whole Air Force.

All Jazz Heritage Series concerts will be held at 8 p.m. at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. All concerts are free; no tickets are required. For more information, please see:

http://www.usafband.af.mil/event/jhs/index.asp

http://www.usafband.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8063