Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra Returns to Dizzy’s! Stan Kenton’s Contemporary Concepts: A 60th Anniversary Tribute

On April 11th at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the award-winning Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra – under the direction of Justin DiCioccio (MM ’71) – will celebrate the brassy, swinging sounds of Contemporary Concepts, the “thought-provoking” (All About Jazz) album of standards released in 1955 by pianist, composer, arranger, and band leader Stan Kenton and his orchestra.

The album featured seven standards, including “What’s New, ” “Stella by Starlight, ” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin, ” with six propulsive arrangements by Bill Holman and one by Gerry Mulligan, and featuring strong solos from Charlie Mariano and Lennie Neihaus (alto sax), Bill Perkins (tenor sax), and Carl Fontana (trombone), among others. Especially memorable is the contribution of drummer Mel Lewis, who drives the rhythm section throughout, coming on like a proto-Buddy Rich.

Stan Kenton’s work in the 1940s and 1950s ushered in a new era for orchestral jazz, consolidating a hard-swinging style and an inventive take on big-band sounds that, although not always suited to the casual listener, found a mainstream audience.

“Stan Kenton made an indelible mark on arranged big band jazz, ” says Assistant Dean and Chair of MSM’s Jazz Arts program Justin DiCioccio, who stands in for Kenton as band leader on April 11. “The innovative, wind-in-your-hair ‘bop’ sound of Contemporary Concepts was no exception.”

About STAN KENTON

Stanley Newcomb “Stan” Kenton was born on December 1911 in Wichita, Kansas. In June 1941, Kenton formed his first band, which became one of the best-known West Coast ensembles of the 1940s with its distinct – and controversial – sound that would become known as “The Wall of Sound” (long before the phrase became permanently associated with rock-era producer Phil Spector.

His 39-piece band Innovations Orchestra was formed in 1950 and included 16 strings, a woodwind section, and two French horns. Its music ranged from the modern classical charts of Bob Graettinger and included influential musicians such as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, John Graas, and Art Pepper, among others.

Longtime MSM faculty member the late Manny Albam was a noted Kenton composer/arranger. Kenton’s music and “Kenton Style” would continue to evolve throughout the 1960s and 1970s until his death in August 1979.

About MSM JAZZ ORCHESTRA

The Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Justin DiCioccio, performs regularly with major artists such as Eliane Elias, Jon Faddis, Joe Lovano, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, Wynton Marsalis, and Phil Woods. The ensemble has appeared at jazz festivals including Montreux, Umbria, and the North Sea, as well as at the Clinton White House with David Sanborn, and at numerous jazz education conferences. It has also been heard at New York City jazz clubs, including the Jazz Standard and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (where it performs regularly), as well as at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and at Carnegie Hall in Stern Auditorium performing a children’s concert. In partnership with the Jazzheads label, the MSM Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Justin DiCioccio, has recorded and released CDs of the critically acclaimed Miles Davis-Gil Evans trilogy, Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, and Sketches of Spain, with NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman performing the Miles Davis trumpet solos on saxophone.

About MSM JAZZ ARTS

Manhattan School of Music is one of the first conservatories in the United States to acknowledge the importance of jazz as an art form by establishing undergraduate and graduate degree programs in jazz. It is also one of the richest programs of its kind, thanks to systematic and rigorous conservatory training combined with a myriad of performance and networking opportunities in New York City. In addition to a variety of small combos, student ensembles include the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Concert Jazz Band, Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Philharmonic, and Chamber Jazz Orchestra. Under the leadership of longtime faculty member and eminent jazz artist-and-educator Justin DiCioccio, the program strives to produce students who perform, compose, and teach with equal facility and passion.
Justin DiCioccio, Associate Dean/Chair
Chris Rosenberg, Manager of Jazz Arts Administration
Stephanie Crease, Senior Coordinator
Andrew Neesley, Assistant Coordinator

About JUSTIN DICIOCCIO

Justin DiCioccio is internationally recognized as one of the foremost jazz educators of our time. In January 2001, he was inducted into the Jazz Education Hall of Fame. His keen insight into teaching and his inventive approach have earned him the title “the musician’s teacher.”

In 2002, Mr. DiCioccio was named MSM’s Associate Dean/Chair, Jazz Arts Program; in 2011 he was named Associate Dean. Under his leadership, the jazz curriculum has been completely restructured, and a new jazz DMA program was introduced. He has put into action his concept of the complete artist-musician – performer, composer, and pedagogue – by developing partnerships with public schools, community organizations, cultural institutions, and the music industry. He initiated the addition of a jazz component to the Precollege Division, making Manhattan School of Music one of the few institutions in the country to offer jazz programs at all levels. Mr. DiCioccio also directs international jazz programs, in partnership with Manhattan School of Music.

Mr. DiCioccio has served as program director and clinician for Carnegie Hall Jazz Education and acts as a consultant to Jazz at Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis. He designed, developed, and directed the award-winning LaGuardia High School of the Arts jazz program, the first fully accredited secondary jazz program in the United States.

Mr. DiCioccio is the recipient of a citation from the mayor of New York for “Distinguished and Exceptional Service to Young Instrumentalists” and is active with the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He is a three-time recipient of the Presidential Scholars teaching recognition award by the U.S. Department of Education. In May 1998, the Commission Project, in partnership with the New York City Board of Education, created the JD Award for Outstanding Service to Music in New York City Schools. On March 1, 2010, he was confirmed as the State Department Appointed Cultural Envoy Jazz Ambassador to Tbilisi, Georgia.

Mr. DiCioccio’s performing and conducting credentials include concerts, commercials, Broadway shows, and recordings with jazz, orchestral, rock, and new music groups. He has performed with Arturo Sandoval, Randy Brecker, Chuck Mangione, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Red Rodney, and Clark Terry. Mr. DiCioccio is a former member of the Rochester Philharmonic and for five years was a member of the Marine Band, “The President’s Own, ” in which he served as the official White House drummer.

About MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Founded as a settlement music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today Manhattan School of Music is recognized for its 950 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; a world-renowned artist-teacher faculty; and innovative curricula. The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing postgraduate studies.

Offering both classical and jazz training – and, beginning in fall 2016, a Bachelor’s degree program in musical theater – MSM grants Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, as well as the Professional Studies Certificate and Artist Diploma. Additionally, true to MSM’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege program continues to offer superior music instruction to young musicians between the ages of five and 18. The School also serves some 2, 000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2, 000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.