Timeline | History of Jazz at MIT
2013 marks the 50th anniversary of formal jazz study and performance in Music and Theater Arts at MIT. While jazz was being performed on campus well before 1963, this year marks the arrival of Herb Pomeroy and the formation of what is known today as the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.
This timeline was created by Vanessa Gardner of the MIT Concerts Office. With input and research from Forrest Larson, Frederick Harris, Mark Harvey, Clarise Snyder and various FJE alumni, this timeline represents the major activities, awards and honors celebrated by the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, MIT Music and Theater Arts and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences over the past 5+ decades.
Rhythm-A-Ning
Thelonious Monk
Jeff Friedman, arr.
Herb Pomeroy, conductor
April 1981
Sig Ep
John Cale
Everett Longstreth, guest conductor
Frederick Harris, Music Director
May, 2008
Portrait of Jenny
Russell Robinson & Gordon Burdge
Kenny Werner, arr.
Frederick Harris, Music Director
April, 2012
Playhouse
Jamshied Sharifi
James O'Dell, guest conductor
Frederick Harris, Music Director
April 2005
Go On
Composed and conducted by Jamshied Sharifi
James O'Dell, Music Director (1992-1999)
May, 1992
Tombo in 7/4
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Spring 2012
Experience
Adrian Grossman, '14
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Spring 2012
Hermanos Latinos
Hermeto Pascoal
arr. by Guillermo Klein
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Fall 2011
Blackbird
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Friday the 13th
Theolonius Monk
Performed by Emerson Scholars, Dylan Sherry '12, saxophone; Adrian Grossman '14, electric bass
Jump Skip
Robert McQueen
Keala Kaumeheiwa, coach
Nat Atnafu - Bass
David Garcia - Drums
Colleen Josephson - Baritone Saxophone
Anders Lee - Guitar
Rob McQueen - Piano
"In a never-ending pursuit to find equilibrium, Jump Skip is a funk tune that is most defined by the clashing beats of the melody and bass. The bass part acts as a backbone to the song and is spearheaded by both the upright bass and baritone saxophone. In contrast, the melody (by the piano) consistently finds itself a half-beat off the beat of the bass, resulting in an urge to "jump" back and "skip" ahead at the same time. The conflicting beats of the bass and melody are finally resolved by the drum, which takes hold of the song in a marching-band-style fashion." Robert McQueen
Blues and the Abstract Truth
Oliver Nelson
Frederick Harris, Music Director
2011
Nica's Dream
Horace Silver
2011
Rare
Adam Schwartz '10
Adam Schwartz, piano
Andrew Shum, alto
Anthony Morelli, alto
Clark Davenport, drums
David Garcia, drums
Ibrahim Badr, bass
Ken McEnaney, trombone
Marty Singh, guitar
Michael Grinich, piano
Ryan Morrow, tenor
Wei-Yang Sun, alto
"Rare began with a single idea: a five-note pattern—"12345"—alternating with a two-note pattern—"ab"—repeating idefinitely:1a2b3a4b5a1b2a3b4a5b. (Notice that since five is odd and two is even, it takes twenty notes for the pattern to repeat itself.) Ultimately, this idea spawned two similar but distinct Rare works: one for orchestra, and another for small jazz ensemble. Each work is a dissection of the pattern—a struggle to understand, both emotionally and computationally, what makes a theme built on such a simple idea so intoxicating." — Adam Schwartz | Polymath website
Birk's Works
Dizzy Gillespie
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Birk's Works is a classic, minor blues composition from 1957 by John Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie. This arrangement by Mike Tomaro shifts from mambo to swing, and features tenor saxophone and trumpet.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology