News from 2007:

02.27.07 • March is a big month, with a couple of performances with guest artists and lots of directing responsibilities. My Doctoral Recital is Tuesday, March 6 in Hale Auditorium at Roberts Wesleyan College with a full studio orchestra. I will be conducting over an hour of original works, including the Concerto Grosso, featuring an all-star quintet of John Pittman, Matt Stuver, Jeremy Siskind, Curtis Ostle, and Allan Ward.

On Thursday, March 22, I'll be leading the Eastman Jazz Lab Band, featuring my former professor and good friend Glenn Cashman on tenor saxophone. A week later, I'll direct the Roberts Wesleyan College Jazz Ensemble with a current professor, and also good friend, Clay Jenkins on trumpet. I'm arranging Clay's tune Tray-bo, from the first Trio-East recording, for the ensemble to play with him.

01.09.07 • Finally, an update. As I draw nearer to the completion of a DMA from the Eastman School of Music, and several p/t and freelance jobs, I find myself with less and less time for side pursuits like updating a web site.

At Roberts Wesleyan College, I spent most of the end of the summer and the fall revamping the Music Department website - an ongoing project. The Roberts Jazz Ensemble continues to improve, and our semester concert was highlighted by the performance of a "suite" comprised of Eric Schmitz's modernistic In Your World, Bartok's Mikrokosmos #122, and Sonny Simmons' Coltrane In Paradise (memorized). We also revisited my 1995 composition Elegy, and gave the first performance of my arrangement of Skating on the Christmas Gala concert.

The Eastman Jazz Ensemble had a blast on our trip to Tampa in October, spending several days in residence at the Patel Conservatory in the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Our semester ended with a colossal concert (16 charts!) with David Berger.

I also continued to co-direct the Eastman Jazz Lab Band, and did a ton of coursework. This spring semester promises to be the busiest yet (!), as I make a heroic effort to finish my coursework and perform two recitals, and make my debut as a bandleader backing up a noted singer. Stay tuned!

08.15.06 • Approaching the end of a very busy summer, some projects are nearing completion. Highlights of this summer include:

...a couple of fun gigs with the great Johnny Mathis, who is still going strong well into his seventies, and sounding as good as ever.

...in late July, I was a last minute fill-in for a gig in Gap Mangione's Big Band, which happened to feature his brother Chuck as a special guest on the second half (with me trying to remember those tunes from years ago when I knew them quite well!).

...a recording session with Tom Davis, a great jazz composer who is on the cutting edge of musical independence with an Artist Share web site.

...the latest installment of pops arrangements for the Bemus Bay Pops, the first set of which (a medley of mostly rock hits from the 1970's, for vocals with orchestra) had its first performance last Saturday with the Erie Chamber Orchestra. The other arrangements — an orchestral version of Benny Golson's Killer Joe and a symphonic American Montage — will be performed on the annual Labor Day concert, September 3rd on the floating stage at Bemus Bay.

06.20.06 • The Rochester International Jazz Festival was the biggest ever this year, and I was fortunate enough to perform twice, once with the aforementioned Music Educators Jazz Ensemble (featuring the extraordinary music of Tom Davis, whose charts deserve much wider recognition that they presently enjoy), and once with the "summer edition" of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, with Eastman alumnus Byron Stripling soloing with the band. Due to a scheduling mix-up, we actually were not able to rehearse with Byron before the performance - but his professionalism and quick wit on stage made the gig go on without a hitch. Read the review in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

06.06.06 • I participated in a big band workshop with trumpeter Marvin Stamm and drummer Anthony Pinciotti over the weekend, playing in the Music Educators Jazz Ensemble. Jazz writer Doug Ramsey was in attendance, and wrote about the workshop in his blog.

04.08.06 • I'm quoted in this article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. Our final concert of the year is April 15 in Eastman Theatre, in our memorized performance of the music of Gerry Mulligan.

03.20.06 • Bravo to the Eastman Studio Orchestra for a great premiere of the Concerto Grosso, and especially the quintet of soloists! Inquiries for a CD copy of the first performance and sample score should contact me; meanwhile, a streaming version can be heard on the music page.

After a short spring break trip to the southwest, I'm ready to get back to work! Check the schedule for upcoming perfomances by the Roberts Jazz Ensemble, Eastman Jazz Lab Band, and the Russell Scarbrough Big Band.

I'm also sitting on some great photos of the recent events - which I'll be attending to soon - so check back shortly for some additions to the gallery.

03.07.06 • Rehearsals are progressing well. It should be a great performance. The excitement builds...

In other news, photographer Chris Bennett is producing a book and web site on Jazz In Rochester. Some nice images of me and the Eastman Jazz Lab Band are included. See them on his web site (requires Flash 8).

02.23.06 • The premiere of the Concerto Grosso for Jazz Quintet and Orchestra will be March 10 at 8 pm in the Eastman Theatre. Download the official press release (pdf format).

01.31.06 • Back to work... the Concerto is in progress and I'm moving rapidly into "intense writing mode", so updates may be scarce for the next month or so. Meanwhile, read these two articles from the most recent issue of Eastman Notes, one authored by me about last year's Rochester International Jazz Festival, and one about me recently being awarded the Billy Joel Scholarship.

01.01.06 • I wish everyone to have a Happy New Year - I will be, spending 4 days in NYC for the annual convention of the International Association of Jazz Educators, on January 11-14. Hope to see you there!

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