($20-$30 tickets + DICE fees | 6:30pm & 8:30pm Shows) Guitarist Peter Bernstein joins the University of Arizona’s Studio Jazz Ensemble for a fantastic evening of big band jazz!
STUDIO JAZZ ENSEMBLE
The U of A jazz program is overseen by Dr. Angelo Versace, and currently offers a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies.
At the moment there are two big bands – the Studio Jazz Ensemble (or SJE) and the Concert Jazz Band (or CJB)- as well as two small ensembles – the Fred Fox Jazz Ensemble and the UA Experiential Ensemble.
The program’s flagship groups, the Studio Jazz Ensemble and the UA Jazz Ambassador, have had numerous high profile performances to its credit, including two tours to China, a performance in the Yuma Village Jazz series, a performance as the invited showcase at the ABODA State Jazz Festival in Phoenix, two performances in Nogales, Mexico as part of a cultural exchange with the US State Department, and a performance in Las Cruces, New Mexico as part of the Onate Jazz Festival. Recent guest artists with the band include Terell Stafford, Joe Lovano, Gerald Clayton, Mike Moreno, Brian Lynch, Chris Potter, Joel Frahm, Tim Green, John Fedchock, Bobby Shew, Bill Watrous, Michael Davis, and Troy Roberts.
PETER BERNSTEIN
Peter Bernstein was born in New York City in 1967. He has been playing and recording since 1990 when he first appeared on recordings with Lou Donaldson and the organ trio of Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart, a group still touring and recording today. That year, Peter was featured on Jim Hall’s JVC Jazz Festival concert at Town Hall. Peter played in Lou Donaldson’s group for 10 years as well as performing and recording with Joshua Redman’s group 1995-97. Other associations and collaborations include Jimmy Cobb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David Fathead Newman, Brad Mehldau, Etta Jones, Melvin Rhyne, Diana Krall, Bobby Hutcherson, Lee Konitz, Nicholas Payton, George Coleman, and Sonny Rollins. Peter has played on festival, concert, and club stages all over the world and has appeared on over 300 recordings with 14 under his own name. These recordings have featured many of his own compositions as well as a trio recording of Thelonious Monk’s music and a live solo recording of standards and jazz classics. Peter’s recordings have featured musicians such as Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Greg Hutchinson, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Stewart, Larry Grenadier, Gerald Clayton, Sullivan Fortner, Peter Washington, Doug Weiss, and Joe Farnsworth among others. His latest recording on the Smoke Sessions label is “Better Angels”, and features Brad Mehldau, Vicente Archer, and Al Foster.