Distributed April 23, 2002 |
News Service Contact: Mary Jo Curtis
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15th Annual Brudner Memorial Concert Trombonist George Masso and Brown Jazz Band to perform April 27 Trombonist and Rhode Island native George Masso will perform with the Brown Jazz Band in the 15th annual Eric Adam Brudner ’84 Memorial Concert Saturday, April 27, 2002, at 8 p.m. in the Richard and Edna Salomon Center for Teaching. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Department of Music will present the 15th annual Eric Adam Brudner ’84 Memorial Concert, featuring trombonist George Masso and the Brown Jazz Band, on Saturday, April 27, 2002, at 8 p.m. in the Richard and Edna Salomon Center for Teaching on The College Green. The concert, one of the most popular annual music events at Brown, is free and open to the public. Jazz Band Director Matthew McGarrell said Masso has “a lyrical trombone style, rich in melody, expressive in tone and inventive in rhythm.” “He is a model for aspiring jazz players everywhere and a wellspring from which those involved in improvisational music can enrich their art,” McGarrell said. A Rhode Island native, Masso has combined education and performance in a successful six-decade music career. Born in Cranston, he has taught in Rhode Island schools and at the University of Connecticut in addition to playing with the greatest jazz musicians in the world. As a child he studied trumpet, piano and vibraphone, but took up the trombone at age 13 after hearing Lou McGarity play with Benny Goodman. After playing for two years in the Special Service Band of Europe, Masso played lead trombone with both Jimmy Dorsey and the Latin Quarter Orchestra in New York before earning bachelors and masters degrees in music at Boston University. In 1973, after teaching for nearly 20 years, he resumed a full-time musical career, playing with Bobby Hackett, the Benny Goodman Sextet and the World’s Greatest Jazz Band, among others. Today Masso tours extensively, playing concerts and festivals worldwide, often in the company of such jazz greats as Dave McKenna, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vaché and Ken Peplowski. His recent recordings include “The George Masso Tentet: At Long Last Love,” with Dick Johnson, Lou Colombo and Mark Phaneuf (Arbors, 2000); “Night Birds,” with Harry Allen and Totti Bergh (Gemini, 1997); “Shakin’ the Blues Away,” with Roy Williams (Zephyr, 1996); and “Trombone Artistry” (Nagel-Heyer, 1994). From his home base in Narragansett, Masso continues to travel the world, working with student musicians, serving on education panels and making music with world-class jazz musicians. Eric Adam Brudner ’84 Eric Adam Brudner graduated in 1984 after distinguishing himself as one of the University’s finest music students in recent memory, McGarrell said. While still an undergraduate, he played jazz professionally in local clubs and taught piano to dozens of fellow students. He was awarded the Buxtehude and Arlan Coolidge Prizes in music in his junior and senior years, respectively. “Eric was a talented pianist and composer. He was a favorite of faculty and students alike,” McGarrell said. “He brightened our classes and our lives with his effervescent good humor and quick wit, and he touched our hearts with his music. These annual concerts are dedicated to his memory in celebration of his talent and aspirations.” Since the fourth annual Brudner Concert in 1991, the Brown Jazz Band has performed each year with a well known jazz musician, most recently including Dave Liebman, Carl Fontana and John Medeski. “The generosity of the Brudner family has made it possible for Brown students to work with musicians of the highest rank and has enabled several thousand people from Brown and from the community beyond to attend these exciting events,” said McGarrell. For more information, call (401) 863-3234 or 863-7552. ###### | ||||
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