Finalists Announced for 2009 Generations International Competition for Emerging Jazz Combos

The two groups will be flown to San Francisco for several days of workshops with Generations mentor musicians Eric Alexander (tenor sax), Terrell Stafford (trumpet), David Hazeltine (piano), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Ray Drummond (bass) and Generations artistic director Andrew Speight (alto sax). On Thursday night, May 7, the two Generations Competition finalist quintets will compete in an exciting “Battle of the Combos” at Yoshi’s San Francisco. Their performances will be judged by the Generations mentors, and the competition winner will be immediately announced. At stake is a one-year fellowship at San Francisco State University, including intensive group mentorship by the Generations musicians and a series of distinguished guest artists.

Ken Fowser/Behn Gillece Quintet rides momentum of new CD to Yoshi’s

The Ken Fowser/Behn Gillece Quintet brings impressive experience and a breadth of accomplishment to the Generations Competition at Yoshi’s. Led by tenor saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibraphonist Behn Gillece, the group recently celebrated their first CD, Full View, with a release party at Small’s Jazz Club in New York City, where Fowser also runs a weekly Tuesday night jam session. Fowser and Gillece are both from Philadelphia, and both gained vital experience on the Philly jazz scene before braving the demanding world of New York jazz. They’re joined in the quintet by pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist Adam Cote and drummer Jason Brown. Manasia, a leader in his own right, recently released his CD, After Dark, which All About Jazz called “an excellent group of originals and standards.”

Trumpeter Bruce Harris returns to the competition with the Bruce Harris Quintet

Trumpeter Bruce Harris will be taking the stage for the “Battle for the Combos” for the second time. He performed last year in the first ever Generations Competition finals with the quartet, Interplay. Interplay, in fact, won that night, to earn the first ever Generations Fellowship. After that year-long experience, Harris is back wanting more, this time joined by tenor saxophonist Alex Hoffman, pianist Donald Vega, bassist David Wong and drummer Pete Van Nostrand. Vega and Wong are particularly accomplished for such young musicians. Vega, for example, played piano on Bennie Wallace’s 2008 CD, Disorder at the Border. Wong performs regularly with Roy Haynes and the Heath Brothers Quartet, and has played with the Vanguard Big Band and Lou Donaldson.

Clearly, then, this “Battle of the Combos” is destined to provide an outstanding night of music, just on the strength of the players. When you add in the competition aspect of the proceedings, the opening set by the Generations Band and the grand finale, all-hands-on-deck jam session, you’re looking at a rousing program of fascinating jazz action.

The Generations mentors, who have coalesced into a dynamic performing ensemble themselves, will also take the stage, making for a full night of compelling jazz: two up-and-coming ensembles fighting for a single prestigious residency and two sets by an all-star band of jazz masters. The Generations Band will have the Yoshi’s SF stage all to themselves the preceding night, Wednesday, May 6, for two full sets of dynamic, interactive jazz.

A unique competition inspired by a reverence for jazz tradition

The Generations International Competition and Fellowship for Emerging Jazz Combos is the brainchild of SFSU School of Music faculty member, Andrew Speight and Dr. Jeffrey Babcock, executive director of the ICA.

“The group sound is the real soul of jazz,” Speight says, “The bands of musicians like Mile Davis, Cannonball Adderley and Art Blakey advanced the music through the ensemble sounds they created. And information was passed down through communities, in jam sessions, through oral history and within the groups themselves. The Generations project is about re-focusing on the ensemble, and getting back to mentorship-based education. Having Jimmy Cobb and Ray Drummond involved is invaluable. These are musicians who were right there in the trenches when the basic concepts of this music were being worked out. They have first-hand knowledge of history nobody else has access to.”

As they had the year before, this past fall, the ICA sent word of the second annual competition to over 250 university jazz programs around the world and advertised the competition in major jazz publications. The competition guidelines called for groups of four to seven instrumentalists, 30 years of age or younger, with all members holding at least a Bachelors degree or equivalent training. Each group was asked to record three songs from among a short list of medium tempo blues and jazz standards like Thelonious Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” and John Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice.” The Generations Band members then judged the recorded entries, listening for bands with the best ensemble interplay, tightest grooves and most imaginative voicings.

Busy first year for Generations Project

This past year, the first for the Generations Project, was a busy time, indeed. The Generations Band and the quartet Interplay, the first Generations Fellowship winners, convened several times during the year, as Interplay received invaluable mentoring on musicianship and life in the music industry. In addition the Generations Band produced Tough Guys, their very well-received CD, and Generations Jazzworks, a multi-faceted instructional DVD. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a brand new CD, which is due out in late spring/early summer 2009. Interplay’s first CD, Ask Questions, is due out in late May.

About the International Center for the Arts at San Francisco State University

Founded in 2005 with a generous gift from San Francisco State University alumni George and Judy Marcus, the International Center for the Arts is an interdisciplinary creative, research and producing organization focused on the future of the arts in a global society. ICA activities include the DOC Film Institute, visual arts exhibitions and related activities, and career-entry fellowships for gifted emerging artists, currently in string quartet and jazz. The Center pursues collaborative partnerships that connect the University with leading local and international cultural and academic institutions and distinguished individuals in the arts, sciences and technology.

For more information

For more information about the Generations International Competition for Emerging Jazz Combos, please contact Jerry Karp at (707) 895-2799 or jerry@rocketwords.com. For more information about the International Center for the Arts, please contact (415) 817-4476 or ica@sfsu.edu. To learn more about the Generations Jazz Program, please visit the Generations website.