Jazz Ensemble

The Williams Jazz program includes academic courses (see below*), ensembles (both traditional big band, by audition, and several small ensembles), and applied lessons on primary jazz instruments.  Every year we also cosponsor the Williamstown Jazz Festival (www.williamstownjazz.com), which is held at multiple venues throughout North Adams and Williamstown. Our jazz applied faculty, who appear in the video shown below,  include John Menegon, bass; Conor Meehan, drums; John Nazarenko, piano; Freddie Bryant, guitar; Erik Lawrence, Saxophone; Tom Bergeron, Trumpet; and Teri Roiger, Jazz Voice.  All are active professionals playing with such luminaries as David "Fathead" Newman, The Mingus Big Band, Joe Lovano, Paul Winter, and others. Every year the jazz program brings guest artists and clinicians to campus for performances and to work with students. Recent visitors have included the Branford Marsalis Quartet, The David Sanchez Quintet, Winard Harper, The Marcus Roberts Trio, Ellingtonian John Lamb, and Saxophonist Claire Daly, among others. Guest lecturers have included Dr. Yusef Lateef, Ravi Coltrane, Dan Morgenstern, Don Sickler, Dr. Lewis Porter, and many others.  The flagship Williams Jazz Ensemble (big band) plays formal concerts on campus, and also travels each year, with performances ranging from the Boston area to New York as well as throughout the Western Mass. region. In January of '08 the Ensemble was in residence at the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico. In addition to jazz applied lessons, the curriculum includes the following academic courses:

*
Mu 122 African-American Music (Brown)
Mu 130 History of Jazz (Brown)
Mu 212 Jazz Theory and Improvisation (Bryant)
Mu 213 Jazz Theory and Improvisation II (Jaffe)
Mu 217 Jazz Arranging and Composition (Jaffe)
Mu 221T Jazz Ear Training (Jaffe)
Mu 240 Intro to the Music of Ellington (Jaffe)
Mu 241 Intro to the Music of Coltrane (Jaffe)

Core Jazz faculty Brown, Jaffe and Bryant are also affiliated with Africana Studies, where other related courses are cross-listed.
For more information or if you have questions, please feel free to contact Andy Jaffe.
Programs: March 7, 2008
Posters: March 7, 2008
View our short video of the Jazz Ensemble by clicking here.
To see photos of the rehearsal for the March 7, 2008 Concert, click here.