Jazz news

College of Music students Anisha Rush, Josh Reed and Heath Walton have received grants from local organization Pathways to Jazz.

As far as careers go, jazz pianist Stephen Thurston is hitting all the right notes. The 2013 Jazz Piano graduate talks about his flourishing career in Denver, what's next and what advice he has for students.

The Thompson Jazz Studies Program continues to set the standard for excellence among its peers: three students were recently selected for a prestigious, invitation-only Program for Jazz at the Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute in Illinois.

The students were invited to perform as part of the Monterey Jazz Festival’s prestigious Next Generation Jazz Festival, which annually brings more than a thousand middle-school, high-school and college big bands, combos and ensembles to “duke it out for the glory of performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September,” according to the festival’s website.

Students and faculty from the CU-Boulder Thompson Jazz Studies Program will perform some of the greatest music of the swing era March 8 in Lone Tree, hosted by the CU-Boulder Denver Metro Alumni Chapter.

Born in Havana, Cuba, the versatile D'Rivera—flute, saxophone, clarinet—performed with the National Theater Orchestra at age 10. He studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony at age 17.

Reid will give a free performance at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18 in Grusin Music Hall. The College of Music Concert Jazz Ensemble, directed by Brad Goode, will perform Reid's original compositions from Quiet Pride, nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014 for best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

The trio, a hit on the jam-band circuit pioneered by the Grateful Dead, and the versatile, 20-member, alt-classical band will jam together and separately for an eclectic program that draws on everything from the work of brain-bending science-fiction author Philip K. Dick to Egyptian mythology, Herman Melville and Detroit jazz.

The College of Music will host a memorial for student Rob Miles at 7:30 p.m. Monday Feb. 2, in Grusin Music Hall.

Speaker of the House Dickey Lee Hullinghorst (D-Boulder) said she was "thrilled that CU-Boulder was able to participate in the opening ceremonies."