April 6, 2001 UNT Inhouse publication: UNT, Addison form partnership to create first North Texas Jazz Festival

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UNT, Addison form partnership to create first North Texas Jazz Festival

When the town of Addison decided to create an annual jazz festival, it knew one thing — it wanted the UNT jazz studies program to guide its artistic decisions. The first North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison is under way now and continues through Sunday April 8 with a lineup of major guest artists as well as UNT faculty and student performers.

The rhythmic sounds of Clark Terry, Shirley Horn, James Moody, Christian McBride, Marvin Stamm and the One O'Clock Lab Band, as well as others, began to reverberate throughout Addison restaurants and Addison Circle April 3 and continue through Sunday, April 8, during the first annual North Texas Jazz Festival in Addison.

"This type of multi-location event seems like a natural fit for a town with more than 135 restaurants and 20 hotels," explains Barbara Kovacevich, Addison special events manager. "And, who better to partner with than the first public university in the country to offer a jazz studies program."

"We were pleased to be approached by the town of Addison to participate in this event," says Neil Slater, director of jazz studies. "It gives us an opportunity to showcase the art of jazz by featuring well-known jazz artists, local musicians and UNT staff and students from the division of jazz studies."

The Town of Addison Endowed Scholarship in Jazz at UNT was created to allow students from across the country to study in Denton.

During the week, free concerts were to be held in participating restaurants — including Antonio Ristorante, Bennigan's Grill & Tavern, Blue Mesa Grill, Chamberlain's Steak & Chop House, Landry's Seafood House, Lawry's, Long Shots Sports Grille, Nate's Seafood & Steakhouse, Sambuca and Starbucks — and at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and in Esplanade Park at Addison Circle between Quorum Drive and the Dallas North Tollway.

Main stage performances begin April 6, in the festival tent in the Addison Arts and Entertainment District, located on Addison Circle Drive between Quorum Drive and Addison Road, near the Blueprints at Addison Circle sculpture.

Marvin Stamm, UNT alumnus, takes the stage from 8 to 9 p.m. April 6 with Bill Mays, Jay Anderson and Ed Soph, associate professor of music. Stamm is an accomplished trumpeter whose success in the jazz realm spilled over into the popular arena when he recorded with such artists as Paul McCartney, Aretha Franklin and James Brown.

James Moody follows Stamm with UNT music faculty members Fred Hamilton, Dan Haerle, Lynn Seaton and Soph on the main stage from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. For nearly four decades, saxophone master Moody has serenaded lovers with his signature song "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation on the chord progressions of "I'm In the Mood for Love."

Headliner Shirley Horn, plays on the main stage from 11 p.m. to midnight. Horn is widely regarded as the premiere singing pianist in jazz since Nat "King" Cole,and her last six albums have been nominated for Grammy awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performances.

Performances resume Saturday on the main stage with the Christian McBride Band's performance from 8 to 9 p.m.. Named in the May 1992 Rolling Stone magazine as Hot Jazz Artist of the Year, McBride is now one of the most sought-after bassists in the world of jazz.

The Grammy-award-winning UNT One O'Clock Lab Band takes the main stage from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday. The band includes five saxes, five trumpets, five trombones, guitar, piano, bass, drums and percussion .

Headliner Clark Terry, along with Haerle, Seaton and Soph, performs from 11 p.m. to midnight on the main stage. An international jazz star, this trumpeter is best known as a headliner at the world's prominent jazz events as well as a television personality featured on such national programs as Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. He is considered one of jazz's finest educators, and the likes of Miles Davis and Quincy Jones credit Terry as a formidable influence early in their careers.

The festival wraps up Sunday, April 8, with performances by the Jim Riggs Quintet, the UNT Jazz Singers and the Two O'Clock Lab Band from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the brunch at the Blue Mesa Grill.

For more information, call (800) -ADDISON or visit the city of Addison's web site at www.addisontexas.net.

All concerts require a ticket, and ticket prices vary. Contact the jazz festival box office at (972) 450-6232 for ticket information and to purchase tickets.