Monday, June 21, 2004

Wilmington, N.C.—The University of North Carolina at Wilmington Summer Jazz Workshop will present concerts June 22 and 26 in Kenan Auditorium. The first concert will feature the UNCW Faculty Jazz Combo guest bassist Steve Bailey at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 22. There is a $5 general admission charge. The second concert will feature the workshop students in large and small ensembles in at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 26 in Kenan Auditorium. Admission is free for this final concert.

Each member of the combo maintains a busy performance schedule as a soloist as well as a recording and supportive musician. The members of the combo include Frank Bongiorno on saxophone, Christofer Ackerman on trumpet, Jerald Shynett on trombone, Vince Stout on bass, Bill Warren on drums, Andy Whittington on piano and Bobby Russell on guitar. The combo also includes jazz artists ranging from Les Brown to Phil Woods, Milt Hinton and others. They are active clinician/performers throughout the country and are dedicated to the pedagogy and perpetuation of jazz as an art form.

South Carolina-born Steve Bailey has taken the fretless six-string bass to unparalleled heights as a solo artist and sideman. Following electric and acoustic bass studies at North Texas State University and the University of Miami, Bailey moved to New York City, where he toured with Paquito D’Rivera and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1985 he settled in Los Angeles and compiled a massive résumé as a session and touring bassist with a broad range of artists including the Rippingtons, David Benoit, Larry Carlton, Jethro Tull, Jon Anderson of Yes, Lynyrd Skynrd, Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Kitaro and Tab Benoit. Together with Victor Wooten, Steve formed Bass Extremes in 1993, and released two solo albums, Dichotomy and Evolution. A 10-year faculty member at B.I.T. in Hollywood, his books and videos include Steve Bailey Bass Series and Advanced Bassix. In addition to the newly released Bass Extremes disc, Just Add Water, Steve is working on his upcoming solo CD, So Low.

The UNCW Summer Jazz Workshop, directed by Frank Bongiorno, provides a week of intensive jazz study and interaction with the UNCW jazz faculty and guest artists for middle and high school students from throughout the state and abroad. It is designed to meet the needs of participants of varying abilities and experience levels while covering virtually every aspect of jazz study. The students’ daily schedule includes basic jazz theory and improvisation classes for beginner, intermediate as well as advanced study, an overview of jazz history and master classes on each instrument of the jazz ensemble by the UNCW Jazz Faculty.