Payton and Bergonzi Teach Kids at Brubeck Institute

The Brubeck Institute in Stockton, Calif. recently announced that trumpeter and composer Nicholas Payton (pictured) will serve as artistic director and tenor saxophonist and former Dave Brubeck Quartet member Jerry Bergonzi will be an artist-in-residence at the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony at the University of the Pacific, August 8-14.

The Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony is a full scholarship program that provides 17 of the best young jazz musicians in the nation the opportunity to interact with and learn from jazz masters. Aimed at exceptionally gifted and intrinsically motivated jazz students between their freshman and senior years of high school, the program creates an inspiring, stress-free environment where precocious players can perform, practice, and study along with peers who are equally committed to mastering jazz performance.

Central Valley residents and visitors are invited to enjoy an evening of jazz with these young players who will perform alongside Payton and Bergonzi at Pacific’s Faye Spanos Concert Hall on Saturday, August 14 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students and seniors. Tickets will be available at the door only. For ticket information, please call the Brubeck Institute hotline at 209-946-3113.

“We’ve really made a concerted effort to find the best young players in the country, those that truly have the potential to be the next Charlie Parker, the next Miles Davis, the next Dave Brubeck,” said Brubeck Institute Executive Director JB Dyas. “As last year, thanks to the Herb Alpert Foundation and Herb’s desire to honor the memory of Paul Desmond, the Colony is fully funded. The students’ only charge is that when they return to their respective high schools around the nation they serve as young jazz ambassadors, sharing with their peers what they learned here. Kids teaching kids about America’s art form-this is Dave Brubeck’s vision.”

While at the Colony, the student musicians will participate in daily masterclasses, rehearsals, and jazz seminars with Payton and Bergonzi as well an array of other acclaimed visiting and resident artists including pianists Mulgrew Miller, Geoffrey Keezer, and Joe Gilman, bassist Jeff Chambers, saxophonist Patrick Langham, trumpeter Bart Marantz, drummer Brian Kendrick, trombonist Steve Perdicaris, and vocalist Madeline Eastman.

The 17 students-in-residence include pianists Eldar Djangirov of San Diego, CA, Victor Gould of Simi Valley, CA, and Glenn Zaleski of Boylston, MA; saxophonists David Palma of Miami, FL, Lucas Pino of Glendale, AZ, and Peter Reardon-Anderson of Bethesda, MD; bassists Earl Travis of Houston, TX, Hans Bernhard of Santa Cruz, CA, and Nicholas Jozwiak of Naperville IL; drummers Cory Cox and Dustin Kaufman of Houston TX, and Shaun Lowecki of Libertyville, IL; guitarist Matthew O’Grady of Green Bay, WI; trumpeters Kyle Athayde of Orinda, CA and Brian Chahley of Toronto, Canada; trombonist Joe McDonough of Trevose, PA; and vocalist Nadia Washington of Dallas, TX.

For full information about the Summer Jazz Colony and other programs at the Brubeck Institute, please visit www.brubeckinstitute.org.

Originally Published August 7, 2004