UC Jazz Big Band on Lower Sproul, Spring 2004

The Ensembles

Schedule updated for Fall 2009 as follows:

Music majors may receive credit for participation in UC Jazz when chosen as an ensemble elective. Please check with the Music Department for further information and with any qualification questions.

Combo groups

Advanced Combos

Advanced combos consist of the top players in UC Jazz Ensembles. Placement in these combos is restricted. The advanced combos perform jazz standards, challenging and contemporary material such as Dave Liebman and Chick Corea, and original compositions. Advanced musicians should have a thorough understanding of bebop and contemporary improvisation styles, and a familiarity with the musical languages of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, etc. Students should know diatonic and non-diatonic jazz harmonic theory and have memorized several jazz standards. They should have technical fluency on their instrument and possess advanced jazz musicianship skills, including sight-reading, transposition, odd-meter playing, and pitch/chord recognition, although the combos will continue to work in all of these areas. Advanced combos frequently perform at highly visible venues on and off campus and perform biannually at our end of semester concerts with the UC Jazz Big Band.

Ted Moore's Advanced Combo

Instructor: Ted Moore
Meets: Wednesdays 3-5
Personnel:
  Shomik Chakravarty, guitar
  Matt Staley, guitar
  Kevin Wang, piano
  Noah Whitfield, bass
  Anand Badri, drums

Dann Zinn's Advanced Combo

Instructor: Dan Zinn
Meets: Thursdays 7-9p
Personnel:
  Trevor Orr, alto
  Robert Barner, guitar
  Chris Allen, piano
  Joe Constantini, bass
  Nick Duffy, drums

Frank Martin's Advanced Combo

Instructor: Frank Martin
Meets: Thursdays 3-5
Personnel:
  Richard Conway, trpt
  Alex Siegel, guitar
  Andrew Hutchinson, piano
  Seabrien Arata, drums
  Ali Warrick, drums

Intermediate Combos

Intermediate combos work on improvisation skills and focus on standard repertoire including tunes like "On Green Dolphin Street," "Confirmation," "All the Things You Are," etc. These musicians should have a good facility on their instruments and know the fundamentals of jazz harmony, including diatonic modes and common chord progressions. They should understand the swing feel and be able to improvise over forms such as the twelve-bar blues. These students usually have participated in high school or college groups.

Ted Moore's Intermediate Combo

Instructor: Ted Moore
Meets: Mondays 1-3
Personnel:
  Forrest Riege, alto
  Steven Weber, alto
  Tim Ingram, trpt
  Anthony Ferrese, tenor
  Kyle Moss, bass
  Peter Jong, drums
  Andrew Dunst, drums

Glenn Richman's Intermediate Combo

Instructor: Glenn Richman
Meets: Fridays 11-1
Personnel:
  Robert Blankenship, alto
  Trevor Hillebrand, trpt
  Mariana Martinez, tenor
  Lori Burns, tenor
  Grant Hiura, piano
  Chris Guichet, bass
  Nat Goodby, bass
  Zack Froeberg, drums
  Thomas Yopes, drums

Marty Wehner's Intermediate Combo

Instructor: Marty Wehner
Meets: Wednesdays 5:30-7:30
Personnel:
  Patrick Bernal, trpt
  Sofia Noori, alto
  Grace Osborne, flute
  Jessica Hom, trb
  Roger Kim, guitar
  Yotam Mann, piano
  Todd Karin, bass
  Johannes Brandis, drums

Ted Moore's Intermediate Combo #2

Instructor: Ted Moore
Meets: Mondays 5.30-7.30
Personnel:
  Nathan Wong, trpt
  Jeremy Axelrod, tenor
  Josh Sheltzer, alto
  David Wagner, gtr
  Robert Maule, bass
  Anish Shah, drums
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Big Band

The UC Jazz Big Band performs several times throughout the year on and off campus and at the end of semester concerts. Repertoire for the band includes charts by Sammy Nestico, Frank Foster, Gordon Goodwin, Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer, and others. Musicians interested in the Big Band should possess strong technical facility on their instruments as well as good sight-reading ability. Improvisation skill is certainly welcome but not required.

Instructor: Steve Campos
Meets: Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30-7
Personnel:
Trpts
   Adrian Marple
   Richard Conway
   Alan Berger
   Christian Ulmer
   Adam Krause
   Terry Renaud

Saxes
   Josh Sheltzer, alto
   Sofia Noori, alto
   Maxime Stinett, tenor
   Mariana Martinez, tenor
   Paul Borokhov, bari

Trbs
   Oscar Zisman
   David Holmberg

Rhythm
   Kevin Wang, piano
   Sam Holmberg, guitar
   Brad Kerr, bass
   Seabrien Arata, drums
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Cal Alumni Big Band

The Cal Alumni Big Band was established in 1980 with the intent of providing Cal grads and alumni of the Jazz Ensembles an outlet for playing big band music after leaving UC Berkeley. The band is open to talented musicians from all over the Bay Area but traditionally the vast majority of players are Cal grads. Check out the rehearsal if you would like to sit in and be a part of the band.

Manager: Sam Lind
Meets: Tuesdays 8-10p
Website: http://www.calumbigband.8m.com
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