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| THAD
JONES LEGACY PROJECT |
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| The
Thad Jones Legacy
Project celebrates some of the most
innovative music created in the last
half of the 20th century. The
project is designed to explore
the repertoire of Thad Jones and document his
place in American music history as one of the
leading creators of jazz music. As a
composer-arranger, Thad Jones, perhaps more
than anyone else in the 1960’s revitalized
conventional big band writing. He certainly
drew from his long experience with Count Basie,
but he had an affinity for the dense, cluster
harmonies of Duke Ellington and Billy
Strayhorn as well. Combining these influences
with the rhythmic innovations of bebop, a
profound melodic gift, and a subtle sense of
humor, Jones established himself as a
pre-eminent jazz writer. |
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| The
Thad Jones Legacy
Project will be implemented as a
series of recordings, performances and videos
that will appropriately document the depth, of
Thad’s music. One of the primary goals is to
take great care in the preparation,
performance and recording of this music in
order to ensure that the finest documentation
will be available to current and future
generations of jazz listeners and performers.
The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra has played the
music of Thad Jones for over three decades and
has dedicated itself to keeping his music in
the forefront, and developing a diverse
appreciation for his wonderful mastery of jazz
composition. |
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| SAVE
THE MUSIC |
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| The
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Sixteen as One Music
Inc. in collaboration with the American Music
Center has received a major, matching Grant
from the National Endowment for the Arts to
restore and archive original Thad Jones
manuscripts. To find out more about the
project and how you can support the matching
grant contact the VJO:
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| COMMISSIONING
NEW MUSIC |
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| The
Vanguard Jazz Orchestra was founded by two
extremely important figures in the world of
jazz, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. One of the
most intriguing things about Thad and Mel was
their ability and willingness to push the
artistic edge. With Thad as the consummate
composer and Mel as the impeccable swinger,
they created a jazz orchestra standard that is
modeled by ensembles worldwide. Both Thad and
Mel welcomed new work from other composers and
demanded quality, innovation and an ability to
swing. They encouraged artists to merge their
creativity with the orchestra’s sound. This
philosophy served to keep the musical identity
evolving and the spirit alive. The Vanguard
Jazz Orchestra continues this tradition by
commissioning new work from some of the most
important composers in the world of jazz.
For information regarding the commissioning
program contact the VJO.
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