Holidays at Westminster Begins with “Cool Yule Jazz II”
(Princeton, N.J. November 11, 2004)
Holidays at Westminster will begin with a performance entitled “Cool Yule Jazz II” Friday, December 3, 2004 at 8 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton.
Philip Orr, piano; Jerry Rife, clarinet; Edward Taylor, drums; and Roy Cunning, bass, will perform a collection songs that span across the jazz movement. From the ready-made pop vehicles of I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Winter Wonderland, and The Christmas Song, through the introspection of the jazz-original A Child is Born, and the get-down of There’s a Star in the East, to the warmth of traditional Germany and Merry Olde England---the audience will be treated to a very Cool Yule.
Philip Orr’s achievements as a composer, arranger, keyboardist, conductor, and teacher have been recognized with a fellowship by the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. His compositions and arrangements in a variety of genres integrate his experience with classical concert repertoire, traditional sacred music, jazz, pop, gospel, and rock styles, and they have been performed and recorded in the United States and abroad. The former accompanist and sometime arranger for singers Vic Damone and Sandler & Young, he is known for his keyboard work that encompasses a broad array of styles in a variety of solo and ensemble roles in the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. As a conductor, he has directed choirs of all ages and abilities for another 25 years in churches of four denominations. Mr. Orr serves on the musical faculties of The Lawrenceville School, Rider University, and Westminster Choir College, from which he holds degrees in sacred music and composition.
Clarinetist Jerry Rife is professor of music and chair of the music area in the fine arts department of Rider University, and he teaches graduate-level musicology at Westminster Choir College. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and a Master degree in clarinet performance from Kansas State University, as well as a doctorate in musicology from Michigan State University. The conductor and music director of the Blawenburg Band since 1985, he has brought that ensemble to prominence with concert performances at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium, the Sousa Centennial Ceremony in 1992, and The White House. His writing credits include the Saxophone Journal, Jazz Player Magazine, and the 2nd edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Dr. Rife was associate producer of the 90-minute WGBH/PBS The American Experience documentary “If You Knew Sousa.” He is extremely active as a performer of solo, recital, orchestral, and jazz music on the East Coast, as concertmaster of the internationally recognized professional Virginia Grand Military Band, as Leader of his traditional jazz band The Rhythm King, and as a member of both the Johnson Trio and the swing jazz quartet Blue Skies.
Drummer Edward Taylor, a native of New Jersey, holds a degree in jazz studies from the Mason Gross School of Arts and in classical composition and theory from Rutgers University. Active as an educator, Taylor has taught at Rutgers and Rider Universities, and he is currently on the faculty at William Paterson University and Westminster Conservatory, where he is director of the jazz program. Dr. Taylor performs regularly in and around New York City with his jazz quartet, Groove Apparatus. The group’s first CD, The Enlightened Ones, which was hailed as “one of the most delightful surprises of the year...a major treat” by Jazzreview.com, reached number two on WRHU’s jazz chart. The group’s next recording is scheduled for release in 2005. A selection of Taylor’s compositions can be previewed at http://www.edwardtaylor.com/.
Roy Cumming was born in Orange, N.J., and he grew up in nearby Clifton. He began as a violinist and switched to the bass after high school. His ascent in the jazz world was rapid. By the time he was 20 he was playing gigs with Teddy Wilson. He went on to play with such luminaries as Al Haig, Chick Corea, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, Booker Ervin, Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Williams, and Roy Haynes. He and Glenn Davis played for more than 20 years with guitarist Harry Leahy in Leahy’s trio, and they can be heard together with Leahy on the CD Stillwaters. More recently, Roy and Glenn have also recorded and toured regularly with Phil Markowitz. In the 1960’s, Roy played regular sessions with the great composer-pianist, Chick Corea. Soon after, Roy picked up the composer’s pen, and he cites Chick as a great inspiration in his writing.
Tickets for this performance are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. For reservations call the box office at 609-921-2663. The Westminster box office is located in Williamson Hall on the campus of Westminster Choir College, on the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Walnut Lane in Princeton.
