ESU Welcomes Phil Woods for World Premiere Saxophone Celebration

Posted by: admin on February 4, 2015, One Comment

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East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is jazzing up campus on March 1! A saxophone celebration will be held in the Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall at the Fine and Performing Arts Center from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. This world premiere performance will feature an appearance by NEA jazz master, Phil Woods and his Celebration Saxophone Quartet, assembled with some of the areas most prominent saxophonists.  ESU invites the community to this world premiere!

The concert will be narrated by Woods with stories and photographs to outline what inspired the music. Members of the quartet performing Woods’ pieces are Nelson Hill, soprano sax; Matt Vashilshan, alto sax; Neil Wetzel, tenor sax; Jay Rattman, baritone sax.  In addition to the quartet, pianist Phil Markowitz will join Matt Vashlishan to perform Woods’ Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano.

Woods is a graduate of the Julliard School in New York City, where he majored in clarinet. In 1968 he moved to France where led The European Rhythm Machine, a group which incorporated avant-garde jazz. He returned to the United States in 1972. A year later, Woods formed a quintet with pianist Mike Melillo, bassist Steve Gilmore, drummer Bill Goodwin, and guitarist Harry Leahey.  The Phil Woods Quintet still tours the world today in its newest form with Brian Lynch, Bill Mays, Steve Gilmore and Bill Goodwin.

Woods has been nominated for seven Grammy awards and has won four. He was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts recently with the prestigious Jazz Master Fellowship Award.

Woods is also involved on ESU’s campus. He earned an honorary doctorate from the university in 1994, was featured as guest soloist with the jazz ensemble in 1988, has been a part of the Jazz Masters Seminar Series, and is a regular contributor to The Note (the biannual publication of the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection).

Next month’s Saxophone Celebration offers a VIP experience with Phil Woods, which includes a reception prior to the concert where jazz enthusiasts can meet and speak with members of the quartet and Woods in a private setting and get a reserved seat for the concert.

Tickets for the world premiere concert are $25 per person and $10 for students.  The VIP experience is $100 per person. To order tickets, please visit: esu.edu/jazzatesu. A portion of all proceeds will benefit the University’s Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection (ACMJC). The collection is housed in Kemp Library on ESU’s campus and consists of jazz recordings, oral histories, sheet music, photography, books, videos, original art and memorabilia, all generously donated over the years by its many supporters.

One Response to “ESU Welcomes Phil Woods for World Premiere Saxophone Celebration”

Dick Sheridan

Posted February 6, 2015 at 5:21 PM

Phil – I wish I could be there, but I’ll be in Texas. Knock em dead and as Gene Quill would have said “I’m glad to see your career is going along so well” See you in November. Love, Dick