Fred Hersch PianoJulian Lage Guitar

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Fred HerschProclaimed by Vanity Fair magazine, “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade or so,” 6-time Grammy nominee Fred Hersch balances his internationally recognized instrumental skills with significant achievements as a composer, bandleader, and theatrical conceptualist, as well as remaining an in-demand collaborator with other noted bandleaders and vocalists. As a solo pianist (he was the first artist in the 75-year history of New York’s legendary Village Vanguard to play week-long engagements as a solo pianist - his second featured run is documented on the 2011 release, Alone at the Vanguard); as leader of a widely praised trio whose Whirl found its way onto numerous 2010 best-recordings-of-the-year lists; and as the impetus behind the ambitious 2011 production, My Coma Dreams, a full-evening work for 11 instrumentalists, actor/singer and animation/multimedia—Hersch has fully lived up to the approbation of the New York Times who, in a featured Sunday Magazine article, praised him as “singular among the trailblazers of their art, a largely unsung innovator of this borderless, individualistic jazz – a jazz for the 21st century.” He was nominated for two 2011 Grammy Awards for Alone at the Vanguard - for Best Jazz Album and Best Improvised Jazz Solo. His newest trio album is a 2-CD set Alive at the Vanguard and it has been garnering wide critical acclaim as one of his best releases in his 30-year recording career. It has been awarded the 2012 Grand Prix du Disque by the Académie Charles Cros in France and it was named one of the Best CDs of 2012 by Downbeat Magazine. He has been nominated for his sixth Grammy Award for his solo on Duet from the CD Free Flying, a duo album with guitarist Julian Lage; the disc received a rare 5-Star rating from Downbeat.

MEDIA SPONSORS:

Sun, Mar 9Schoenberg Hall

7pm

PERFORMANCE DURATION: Approximately 90 minutes;

No intermission

Fred Hersch and Julian Lage

In addition to his more than three-dozen recordings as a leader/co-leader, his numerous awards include a 2003 Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship for composition, and a Grammy® nomination for Best Instrumental Composition, as well as five Grammy® nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance. Hersch has featured himself as either a solo performer or at the helm of varied small ensembles, which in addition to his trio, include a quintet, as well as his “Pocket Orchestra” featuring an unconventional line-up of piano, trumpet, voice and percussion. Hersch is considered to be the most prolific and celebrated solo jazz pianist of his generation. In 2006, Palmetto released the solo CD Fred Hersch In Amsterdam: Live at the Bimhuis and 2009 welcomed his eighth solo disc, Fred Hersch Plays Jobim, cited as one of the year’s Top Ten jazz releases by NPR and the Wall Street Journal. Alone won the “Coup de Coeur” de l’Académie Charles Cros in France and 2011 also saw Hersch place 4th in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll and win as Jazz Pianist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association.

Hersch’s career as a performer has been greatly enhanced by his composing activities, a vital part of nearly all of his live concerts and recordings. In 2003, Hersch created Leaves of Grass (Palmetto Records), a large-scale setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry for two voices (Kurt Elling and Kate McGarry) and an instrumental octet; the work was presented in March 2005 in a sold-out performance at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall as part of a six-city US tour. More than 70 of his jazz compositions have been recorded by Hersch and by numerous other artists. His 2010 multi-media theatrical project My Coma Dreams is a full-evening work for actor/singer, 11 instrumentalists and animation/computer-generated imagery; it was based on dreams he retained after emerging from a 2-month coma in the summer of 2008. It has been performed in New York (Columbia University), New Jersey, San Francisco and Berlin. www.mycomadreams.com Hersch has collaborated with an astonishing range of instrumentalists and vocalists throughout worlds of jazz (Joe Henderson, Charlie Haden, Art Farmer, Stan Getz and Bill Frisell); classical (Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Christopher O’Riley); and Broadway (Audra McDonald). Long admired for his sympathetic work with singers, Hersch has joined with such notable jazz vocalists as Nancy King, Norma Winstone and Kurt Elling. He has received commissions from The Gilmore Keyboard Festival, The Doris Duke Foundation, The Miller Theatre at Columbia University, The Gramercy Trio and The Brooklyn Youth Chorus. A disc of his through-composed works, Fred Hersch: Concert Music 2001-2006, has been released by Naxos Records; these works are published by the prestigious firm Edition Peters.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1955, Hersch began playing the piano at age four and was composing music by age eight and winning national piano competitions starting at the age of ten. He has been awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship for a Bellagio residency, grants from Chamber Music America, The National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer, and seven composition residencies at The MacDowell Colony. In addition to a wide variety of National Public Radio programs including Fresh Air, Jazz Set, Studio 360 and Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Hersch has also appeared on CBS Sunday Morning with Dr. Billy Taylor. A committed educator, Hersch has taught at The Juilliard School, The New School and Manhattan School of Music, and conducted a Professional Training Workshop for Young Musicians at The Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall in 2008. He is currently on the Jazz Studies faculty of The New England Conservatory and at Rutgers University.

Hersch’s influence has been widely felt on a new generation of jazz pianists, from former Hersch students including Brad Mehldau and Ethan Iverson of the Bad Plus, to his contemporary Jason Moran, who has said, “Fred at the piano is like LeBron James on the basketball court. He’s perfection.”

MESSAGE FROM THE CENTER: Though they were born more than three decades apart, both Fred Hersch and Julian Lage seem to have come into this world imbued with a similar predilection for artistry. Their earliest evolution as musicians runs parallel to their early child development.

Now one of the most influential pianists in jazz, Hersch was already an accomplished composer and performer by the age of 10 when he won his first competition. Comparatively, by 8-years-old Julian Lage had performed with the legendary Carlos Santana and recorded with mandolin great David Grisman (and had become the subject of an award-winning documentary).

That one was accomplishing such extraordinary creative heights in the 1960s and one in the 1990s just makes the fact that they’ve come together now with such verve and power even more special and highlights the great impact and import of jazz—its ongoing lineage, its eager and welcome infiltration into each successive generation. Their shared status as child prodigies has since taken them each on singular, organic journeys, the fruits and findings of which add texture and flavor to every collaboration they’ve since undertaken.

Jazz regularly thrives in the space and distance between things, it has a thrilling tendency to see the past and the future conjoined, to entice sonic explorers who are equally at home reaching back to traditional forms and leaping forward into the unknown.

What is known, here, tonight, is that we are in for an incredible performance by a duo that seemed fated to come together. Hersch and Lage released their first duo album last fall, titled Free Flying, recorded live over three nights at Manhattan’s Jazz at Kitano.

According to an interview the pair gave to the New York Daily News in November of 2013, that recording strategy came about as a creative fix after several studio sessions weren’t panning out the way the pair had envisioned. And, the fact they even began collaborating at all is colored by a sense of divine intervention. Lage, a longtime fan of Hersch ran into the pianist at a coffee shop in Boston and convinced Hersch to give him composition lessons.

And the rest, as they say, is history (luckily for us).

Thank you for being here on a very special occasion as we revel in the collaboration between these to modern geniuses of jazz. We’re all in for a treat.

Laurie Anderson for Kronos Quartet: LandfallSun, Mar 15 at 8pmRoyce Hall

Peter Brook / Théâtre Des Bouffes Du Nord: The SuitWed, Apr 9 - Sun, Apr 13Thu, Apr 17 - Sat, Apr 19Freud Playhouse

Julian LageWhether he’s playing his Linda Manzer electric archtop guitar, writing with his rare 1934 R.A. Mango, which he used to compose 233 Butler (Lage recorded the track on his Manzer), or the 1932 Gibson L-5 heard on the tension-filled Telegram (inspired by Garry Harrison’s Red Prairie Dawn), Lage brings a purity of tone and consistency of attack to everything in his repertoire.

Hailed by All About Jazz as “a giant in the making,” Lage grew up in California and was the subject of an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Jules at Eight. He gained pivotal early exposure as a protégé of legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton, recording and touring with Burton on two projects: Generations (2004) and Next Generation (2005). Other recent high-profile sideman appearances include Lucky To Be Me and Let It Come To You by longtime friend and close collaborator, pianist Taylor Eigsti. Lage reunited with Gary Burton for live engagements in 2010, Julian can also be heard as a member of the “New Gary Burton Quartet” on the CD Common Ground (featuring Scott Colley and Antonio Sanchez).

Lage was somewhat of a child prodigy -- playing his instrument since the age of five, and performing in public a year later. Shortly thereafter, Lage began playing with such renowned artists as Carlos Santana (when he was only eight years old!), Pat Metheny, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Martin Taylor, and David Grisman, among others. Lage contributed a stirring cover of In a Sentimental Mood with Martin Taylor and David Grisman for the 2000 compilation Acoustic Disc: 100% Handmade Music, Vol. 5. Lage has also appeared at numerous jazz concerts/festivals, including the St. Louis Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival, and even performed on the 2000 Grammy Awards. In 2009, Lage released his debut solo album, Sounding Point, on Emarcy.

Following his Grammy-nominated 2009 debut Sounding Point, Lage released the evocative and finely wrought Gladwell in 2011- the second effort by his offbeat, eclectic group with cellist Aristides Rivas, percussionist Tupac Mantilla, bassist Jorge Roeder and saxophonist Dan Blake.

As with Sounding Point, Gladwell reflects Lage’s wide-ranging musical interests and talents, ranging from chamber music, American folk and bluegrass to latin, world, string-band tradition and modern jazz. The album also exhibits contemporary singer-songwriter aesthetics

Lage’s trio appearances with fiddle master Mark O’Connor (also collaborating with the violinist’s group, “Hot Swing”) and bass giant John Patitucci have strengthened the imprint of Americana and acoustic music on his work. In fact, Lage debuted on record at age 11 on Dawg Duos (1999), featuring David Grisman, Vassar Clements, Edgar Meyer, Béla Fleck and more. “Those were my heroes,” Lage marvels. (He went on to recruit Fleck for three tracks on Sounding Point.)

“Working with Mark O’Connor made me realize you can bring that simplicity and elegance of the guitar to the main stage,” says Lage. “A lot of times growing up I felt the guitar had to be more like a saxophone or a piano - it was never really encouraged in jazz to use capos or open tuning, for instance. With Mark I felt I had permission to cultivate those sonic elements, and I discovered so much new music, like Freight Train or old bluegrass tunes, or old-time music. It’s so coupled with the design of the instrument. When you’re playing that music on the guitar, it’s as though all the lights are green.”

With his previous Sounding Point, Lage arrived at a unique approach to composition and ensemble craft, a searching yet accessible sound that earned him his 2009 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The music was “a major find,” declared Time Out New York - “springy, intelligent chamber Americana that fits perfectly into a spectrum of Nonesuch-style players like Bill Frisell and Chris Thile’s Punch Brothers.”

COMING UP AT CAP UCLA

Be a part of our story this season. Experience more great art and artists.

Thu-Sat, Mar 27-29UCLA Royce Hall

TUNE-IN FESTIVAL L.A.

GUARDIANBaret C. Fink

CHAMPIONDr. Audree V. FowlerDeborah IrmasRenee & Meyer LuskinGinny ManciniDr. Richard S. RossDr. & Mrs. Armin SadoffRalph & Shirley ShapiroDiane Levine & Robert WassRon WatsonWerner & Mimi Wolfen

BENEFACTOR AnonymousDean V. AmbroseGail & James R. AndrewsBarry BakerHelen & Peter BingMary Farrell & Stuart BloombergValerie & Brad CohenDr. Ellen Smith Graff & Mr. Fred CowanThe Feintech Family Sandra B. Krause & William B. FitzgeraldEliane Gans-OrgellFariba GhaffariDr. Allan Swartz & Roslyn Holt SwartzDiane KesslerJohn LiebesJoanne & Joel MogyEdie & Robert ParkerJohn & Kathleen QuisenberryJaclyn B. RosenbergGene & Maxine RosenfeldAlan M. SchwartzAnne-Marie & Alex SpataruDeedee Dorskind & Bradley Tabach-BankJoyce Craig & Beryl WeinerPatty & Richard WilsonKaryn Orgell WynneMarcie & Howard Zelikow

PATRONAnonymousBarbara AbellDrs. Helen & Alexander AstinAnna Wong Barth & Scott BarthDr. Lee & Ann CooperJay & Nadege CongerMarina F. DayDr. Bruce & Barbara DobkinLaura DonnelleyMary & Robert Estrin

Patricia & William FlumenbaumDr. Irene GoldenbergDr. Jerry Markovitz & Cameron JobeDr. Lewis & Sandra KanengiserJoseph P. KaufmanRobert & Milly KayyemJoanne KnopoffDr. Sheelagh Boyd & Larry LayneRonald L. Johnston & Joan LesserSusan & Leonard NimoyClaude PetiteAstrid & Howard PrestonDr. William J. ResnickRonnie RubinCynthia Chapman & Neil SelmanMan Jit & Srila SinghSaletta SmithLester & Carolyn SteinCarol & Joseph SullivanDr. Elwin V. Svenson & Ann SvensonSue & Doug UpshawMichael Sopher & Debra VilinskyCarol & Arnold VinsteinStephanie Snyder & Michael WarrenJudy Fiskin & Jon WienerCarla B. Breitner & Gary Woolard

SUSTAINERAnonymous (3)Robert C. AndersonKathleen Flanagan & Keenan BehrleJames BlakeleyStephanie Delange & David BodyDr. & Mrs. Thomas BrodMatthew Michael & Laurence ChryslerCity National BankRoberta ConroyHelene & Prof. Edwin CooperJennifer & Royce DienerLinnea DuvallRose & Al FinciSandra & Neil GafneySanford & Pat GageLori & Robert GoodmanStanley & Linda GoodmanJackie & Stan GottliebPattikay & Meyer GottliebAnn & William HarmsenLois HaytinHanna HeitingLisa & Steven HiltonSusan & David HirschTim Scott & Nancy HowardFiona & Michael Karlin

Tamara Turoff KeoughAliza & Michael LesserSusan LevichBea & Leonard MandelMel & Margalit MarshallMerle & Gerald MeaserSandra J. Klein & Donald McCallumPhylis NicolayevskyMichael & Suzanne ScottGil & Joanne SegelMuriel & Neil ShermanLaurie & Rick ShumanJennifer SimchowitzJudith TaylorDonna L. Dees & Timothy P. TobinAlice & Norman TulchinWilliam TurnerJoan & Joe WertzDr. Albert & Marilouise ZagerStuart & Carol Zimring

PARTNERAnonymousLeslee Hackenson & Roger AllersSylvia & Joseph BalbonaGil Valenzuela & Randy BarbatoSusan & Stephen BaumanRosanna BogartRonald & JoAnn BusuttilDr. Fereshteh & Khossrow DibaDr. Paul & Patti EisenbergOlga Garay & Kerry EnglishBillie & Steven FischerSherry & Matthew FrankRose GilbertCaryn Espo & David GoldJudy Abel & Eric GordonCarol & Irving GreinesLinda Essakow & Stephen GuntherDr. Robin Garrell & Dr. Kendall HoukMarti KoplinMorelle Lasky LevineBernard & Peggy LewakKaren & Peter LockePauline & Roger MayerLeslie MitchnerDr. Jeffrey & Jacqueline PerloffMargaret QuonLynda & Stewart ResnickDr. Ari & Mrs. Ann RosenblattBernard “Bud” Heumann & Patricia RosenburgLinda McDonough & Bradley RossRoth Family FoundationRita Rothman

The boards of CAP UCLA and Design for Sharing would like to thank all the members who have made a choice to join them in supporting arts education and the art of performance at UCLA.

This listing represents memberships from November 1, 2012-January 15, 2014. If you have questions or would like further information on how you can support CAP UCLA please contact Yvonne Wehrmann at membership@cap.ucla.edu or (310) 794-4033.

John Schwartz Martha Kauffman & Michael SkloffDr. Christopher & Glennis WatermanSamantha & John WilliamsSteve & Jan WinstonArline Zuckerman

ADVOCATEAnonymousDr. Yoshio & Mrs. Natsuko AkiyamaMimi & Sherman AndelsonDr. Scott & Digna BeasleyLinda Engel & Alan BenjaminBunny Wasser & Howard BernsteinDonna & Richard BesoneMarjorie BlattStephanie & Harold Bronson Margot Rogers-Calabrese & Joseph CalabreseStephen DavisVanessa & Brian DokkoLorenzo DoumaniThe Edlow FamilyDavid & Linda EllisWilliam EscaleraJohn FellowsBeverly & Chester FiresteinPeter Weiner & Margaret GallegosAbner & Roslyn GoldstineDeborah GluskerDavid GrayLinda & Jerry JangerKerry KorfMarilyn K. LevinHon. Sherrill D. LukeKarin & Herbert MachlederMichael & Phyllis MarksLaura & James MaslonLaurie McCrayPaulette & Ronald NessimSarah & William OdenkirkAnne OsbergJoseph & Marjorie PerloffLinda PetersonSolomon Riley, JrNancy & Brad RosenbergCaron & Colin SapireIna SinsheimerKimiko & Harry StavrosMary Lou SteinmetzRobert SuiterRobert UhlNancy & Alan VoorheesHarold WilliamsBonnie & Paul Yaeger