Teddy
Harris Jr. (Sept.
3, 1 p.m.) is a Detroit pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and
educator who was brought up under the tutelage of his father, a pianist
and organist. In the fifties he was a student of Detroit's legendary pianist/educator
Barry Harris. He also studied at the New England Conservatory of Music
and studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. On his return to
the U.S., Harris joined Motown as a studio musician in 1962. He soon moved
up in the organization as an arranger, conductor and musical director.
He traveled with the Motown Review and for sixteen years was the Musical
Director of the Supremes. Since 1983 he has headed the New Breed Bebop
Society, which has served as a big band training ground for many Detroit
players. Some of the alumni include Geri Allen, James Carter and Greg
Phillengaines. Harris has been the recipient of numerous awards, including
being named a Midwest Jazz Master in 1993, the Detroit Music Awards Jazz
Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Governor's Michigan Artist Award in 1995.
Wendell Harrison
(Sept. 3, 5 p.m.) is a Detroit clarinetist and saxophonist who is a
widely known recording artist and teacher. He attended Northwestern
High School, where he met Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer, who
were studying with legendary Detroit pianist Barry Harris. Harrison
studied with Harris and at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. At 18
he moved to New York and worked with Lou Rawls, the Joe Henderson/Kenny
Dorham big band, Grant Green, Sun Ra, Hank Crawford, Ray Charles and
Betty Carter. Harrison now leads his own ensemble, and has made eighteen
recordings for labels all over the world. His latest group is his clarinet
ensemble, Mama's Licking Stick, which has recorded "Rush and Hustle"
for Enja Records. His instruction books, the Be Boppers Method Book
with accompanying cassette tape and the Be Boppers Method Book II, are
widely used by students all over the U.S. He has conducted workshops
and residences in the U.S. and Europe. Harrison has received the Arts
Midwest Jazz Masters Award and in 1996 toured with the Michigan Jazz
Masters to Africa and the Middle East. He has also performed as a jazz
master with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which featured two movements
from his suite "Something For Pops."
Ellen Rowe
(Sept. 4, 1 p.m.), jazz pianist and composer, is Associate Professor
of Jazz Studies at the University of Michigan. She is a graduate of
the Eastman School of Music and has also been Director of Jazz Studies
at the University of Connecticut. She has performed with, among others,
Kenny Wheeler, Gene Bertoncini, Tom Harrell, and John Clayton. She was
recently a guest on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" on National Public
Radio. In Ann Arbor she regularly performs with the Bird of Paradise
Orchestra. Rowe's compositions and arrangements have been performed
and recorded by the Village Vanguard Orchestra, U.S. Navy Commodores,
the Berlin and NDR Radio Jazz Orchestras in Germany, the London Symphony
and others. She has conducted All-State jazz ensembles throughout the
U.S. and has been an invited clinician at the Music Educators National
Conference and the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention.
Chris Collins (Sept.
4, 5 p.m.), is a Detroit born saxophonist/composer/arranger. He is on
the faculty of the School of Music at Wayne State University, where
he is the Director of Music Management. Collins has toured much of the
world as both leader and sideman with Mel Torme, Louie Bellson, Red
Rodney, Lou Rawls, Don Menza, Rosemary Clooney, Jack Brokensha and Phil
Collins, to name a few. He is sought after as a clinician and jazz educator
since he combines performance, composition, and communications technology.
Collins has presented workshops and master classes all over the U.S.
and in Japan, Scotland, and Canada. His latest CD, A Time To Mourn A
Time To Dance was released two years ago and received critical acclaim.
It features Collins on the tenor sax with a quartet, which includes
pianist Gary Schunk.
Jack Pierson
(Sept. 5, 1 p.m.) is Executive Director of the Michigan School Band
and Orchestra Association, and is also the President of the International
Association of Jazz Educators in Michigan. He was educated at Ohio University
and has a teaching career stretching back into the late 1950s. He was
Director and founder of the Jazz Studies program at Henry Ford Community
College and made the first visit to the Montreux Festival in Switzerland
in 1973. He has also taught in area high schools, and at Schoolcraft
College, Interlochen, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. His former advanced
improvisation students include young lions like tenorist Rick Margitza
and bassist Bob Hurst.
Andrew Speight
(Sept. 5, 5 p.m.), alto saxophonist, is Director of Jazz Studies at
Michigan State University. Born and raised in Australia he was a leading
player on the Australian jazz scene and worked with many visiting jazz
greats, like Nat Adderley, Buddy de Franco, Joe Newman, Joe Williams
and Louis Bellson. He was a finalist in the Thelonius Monk Competition
in 1991 and 1997. In 1994 he became a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz
Orchestra. Speight has played jazz festivals in Europe and the United
States, including Montreux-Detroit. He will be appearing with Rodney
Whitaker and with Ray Kamalay at this year's festival. In 1997 he recorded
two CDs, one released in the US ("Speight") and one about to be released
in Australia. In 1998 Speight toured Australia with a band including
Donald Walden, Marcus Belgrave and Karriem Riggins.
Ernie Rodgers
(Sept. 6, 1 p.m.) moved to Detroit in 1947 from Monroe. He had started
on the clarinet in his hometown and once in Detroit he changed to the
alto saxophone. Rodgers studied saxophone under the world-renowned musician
and educator Larry Teal and received degrees from Wayne State University
and Eastern Michigan University. He has performed with many top jazz
performers, including Sammy Davis Jr., Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald,
Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, and Wynton Marsalis. In Detroit his parents
started the legendary Rapa House, an after hours performance space for
Detroit musicians. He is the leader of three Rapa House bands varying
in size from 6 to 18 pieces. His career as an educator began at Miller
Middle School and continued at Northwestern High School where he founded
the Jazz Ensemble. His former students include bassists Ralphe Armstrong
and Marion Hayden, and saxophonist James Carter. He is currently teaching
in the Jazz Studies Program at Wayne State University where he is the
director of Lab Band II.
