News from 2005:

11.24.05 • The Eastman Jazz Ensemble will be playing with drummer Peter Erskine in Kilbourn Hall on Wednesday, November 30 at 8 pm. Also on the concert will be the first performance of my arrangement of Dexter Gordon's Cheesecake, and I'll be featured on the Bob Graettinger arrangement of You Go To My Head.

11.23.05 • We're looking forward to the Russell Scarbrough Big Band concert in Cox Hall at Roberts Wesleyan College on December 6 at 8 pm. There will be some new arrangements by myself and Eric Schmitz, as well as some older favorites, plus we'll get to hear some of the newer voices in the band. Check out the RSBB web page for details and directions.

11.21.05 • Lots of updates to catch up with - Check out my interview in Rochester Insider magazine... the Roberts Jazz Ensemble had a great opening concert with José Encarnación, featuring arrangements by Bill Warfield, Fred Sturm and Maria Schneider. There's a nice photograph of me and José in the gallery.

10.20.05 • The Russell Scarbrough Big Band will be performing in Cox Hall at Roberts Wesleyan College on December 6th.

10.05.05 • I have been appointed to Director of Jazz Ensemble at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY. Our first concert will be November 17 in Hale Auditorium on the Roberts campus, and feature saxophonist José Encarnación as our featured soloist. See the schedule for all the details.

09.20.05 • I've been notified that I am the recipient of the first Billy Joel Scholarship at the Eastman School of Music, with a $6,000 scholarship towards tuition. In receiving this award, I will be composing a new piece for the Eastman Studio Orchestra, to be premiered on March 10 in the Eastman Theatre.
Read The Whole Story

09.06.05 • Labor Day at Bemus Bay was a sunny and cool affair this year, and the new orchestra arrangements came out beautifully. See a couple of new pictures in the gallery.

07.19.05 • This summer, one of my major projects is writing the History of Jazz at Eastman for the Sibley Music Library. I will be interviewing and profiling a number of prominent Eastman alumni who are active on the jazz scene, either as performers, composers, or educators.

07.08.05 • Once again the Bemus Bay Pops Orchestra will play its annual extravaganza on Labor Day weekend. For that concert, I'll be spending the next few weeks arranging well-known popular tunes from the movies - everything from It Had To Be You to Jailhouse Rock.

05.12.05 • I'll be performing in the "RIJF Edition" of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble at this year's Rochester International Jazz Festival. We'll be playing my arrangement of Billy Strayhorn's Passion Flower with guest saxophonist Bob Sheppard. Admission is Free! (Update - looks like we're going to substitute Checkered Van for Passion Flower)
Monday, June 13 at 8 p.m. in the Eastman Theatre.

For more on the Rochester International Jazz Festival, read my recent article from the latest issue of Eastman Notes (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

04.28.05 • Please visit the web site of the Russell Scarbrough Big Band to hear recent recordings of the band!

04.21.05 • I'll be directing the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble on April 29th for the premiere of the "Pro Version" of Checkered Van in the Eastman Theatre. Also playing in the Eastman Jazz Ensemble in our completely memorized tribute to Horace Silver.

04.21.05 • First update in a couple of months - The Eastman Jazz Lab Band concert on March 30 was a great performance featuring the spectacular drummer Danny Gottlieb - who got a workout! Highlights included Bill Reddie's Channel One Suite and Hank Levy's Blues, Between and Betwixt.

02.12.05 • The next exciting event will be in two weeks, when the Eastman Jazz Ensemble takes the stage with legendary jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, in what is sure to be an unforgettable evening! See the schedule for details.

02.12.05 • Last night's concert featured some great playing from both the Fairport High School jazz ensembles and the RSBB alike. Highlights included Dan Wright's beautiful ballad playing on Eric's new piece C.J., dedicated to Clay Jenkins, John Britton's tremendous solo on Kyrie, and our tenors Casey MacFarlane and Shirantha Beddage on Moontrane. I'm looking forward to our next performance!

01.29.05 • The Russell Scarbrough Big Band will make it's first appearance of the year at Minerva DeLand School on February 11th at 7:30 pm. An evening of premieres, I'll first conduct the Fairport HS Jazz Ensemble in my new composition, Checkered Van. The 18-piece RSBB will then take the stage with three new charts by composers Eric Schmitz and Michaela Eremiasova, and one more from our rapidly growing book. The band already sounds incredible, and we're looking forward to a great show! Sponsored by The Commission Project.

01.05.05 • Happy New Year! This site will be undergoing some cosmetic changes in the coming weeks. Please check back frequently, and let me know what you think of the site in the guestbook.

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