Legendary Jazz Trombonist Slide Hampton to Join USU's Big Bands

Jazz legend Slide Hampton joins Utah State University students during several sessions in a mini-residency and caps activities with a public performance.

 

“We have been fortunate to have had some very fine trombonists visit us at Utah State in the past few years, including greats Conrad Herwig and Wycliffe Gordon, but this is one for the history books,” said Jon Gudmundson, director of USU’s jazz studies. “Indeed, an appearance by Slide Hampton puts USU students and the community in contract with one of the true living legends of jazz.”

 

Hampton joins students in USU’s Big Bands in performance Wednesday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Performance Hall.

 

Gudmundson encourages early ticket reservations.

 

“Seating in the Performance Hall is intimate, so I strongly advise that tickets be purchased or reserved in advance,” Gudmundson said.

 

Early purchase and reservations are available by contacting Gudmundson at (435) 797-3003. Tickets are free (but required) for USU students with valid USU ID, and $5 for general admission. Tickets are available on a first come-first serve basis. Tickets may be collected at the Will Call area of the Performance Hall beginning at 6:30 p.m. the day of the show. Reserved tickets not claimed by 7:20 p.m. will be released for sale to the public.

 

Todd Fallis, director of the USU Jazz Ensemble, said he and the student musicians in the ensemble look forward to working with Hampton. The Jazz Ensemble will perform with Hampton in Dizzy Gillespie’s Blue and Boogie and the beautiful When Lights are Low, a composition by Benny Carter. Hampton arranged both works for the big band.

 

The Jazz Ensemble will also play Take the A Train and the ballad A Time for Love, both tunes featuring the trombone. Filling out the set are Neal Hefti’s Cherry Point, a blues chart, Quincy Jones’s Witching Hour and Apple for Christa by Herb Phillips.

 

The USU Jazz Orchestra, under Gudmundson’s direction, will feature works from some of the finest jazz arrangers of all time, he said. Works include Don Sebesky’s Bluer Than Blue and Gil Evans’s The Maids of Cadiz, a piece that showcases Tommie Brecheisen’s flugel horn.

 

The Jazz Orchestra will also perform John Clyton’s sizzling version of Horace Silver’s classic The Jody Grind, as well as pianist Ryan Conger’s treatment of Michael Brecker’s funky Renaissance Man, Gudmundson said.

 

The evening’s guest artist joins the Jazz Orchestra to perform his arrangements of his own classic A Day in Copenhagen and Antoine, as well as his arrangements of two jazz standards — the beautiful ballad Stardust and the barn-burner Lover Come Back to Me.

 

During his residency at USU, Hampton will conduct clinics with and coach USU jazz combos. All sessions take place in the Performance Hall. The coaching sessions are Tuesday, April 10, at 12:30 and 5 p.m. The clinics are Wednesday, April 11, at 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.

 

For information on Hampton’s USU visit, contact Gudmundson at (435) 797-3003.

 

Read more about Slide Hampton is a profile in the Utah State Today archives.

 

 

Contact: Jon Gudmundson (435) 797-3003

             Todd Fallis (435) 797-3005