The Listening Room | Jazz
MIT Jazz Choir and Festival Jazz Ensemble
In Praise of MIT
Music and original lyrics by John B. Wilbur '22
Arranged by John Harbison, 2011 | Revised lyrics
Performed by the MIT Jazz Choir and Festival Jazz Ensemble
for the MIT150 Celebration
This great arrangement of MIT's unoffical official song, by Pulitzer Prize-winning MIT composer John Harbison, opens with a short, decorous phrase (a nod to the 1922 original) — then shifts into festive jazz.
Lyrics
Arise all ye of MIT, in loyal fellowship.
The future beckons unto ye and life is full and rich.
Arise and raise your glass on high; tonight shall ever be
A mem'ry that will never die, for ye of MIT.
Thy sons and daughters, oh MIT, return from far and wide
And gather here once more to be renourished by thy side,
And as we raise our glasses high to pledge our love for thee
We join all those of days gone by in praise of MIT.
Jazz at MIT Timeline
Timeline | History of Jazz at MIT
2013 marked the 50th anniversary of formal jazz study and performance in Music and Theater Arts at MIT. Although jazz had been performed on campus for several decades before 1963, that year marked the arrival of Herb Pomeroy, and the formation of the group now known as the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble.
The timeline represents major activities, awards, and honors celebrated by the Festival Jazz Ensemble, MIT Music and Theater Arts, and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences over the past 5+ decades.
Production credits: timeline 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.
Peter Godart ’15
Monk's Dream
Thelonius Monk (1917–1982)
Performed by Emerson Scholar, Peter Godart '15, piano
MIT CMS Jazz Combo
El Ron
Alan Evans
Stephen Allsop, piano; Manuel Aristaran, bass; Clark Davenport, drums; Dennis Miaw, guitar; Sahin Naqvi, alto saxophone; Jim Van Deventer, tenor saxophone. All performers, MIT graduate students.
Keala Kaumeheiwa, Coach
December 2, 2014
Festival Jazz Ensemble, 1987
Tutu
Marcus Miller, composer
Eric Ostling, arr.
Jamshied Sharifi, conductor
1987
Soloists
Dave Ricks, SB, SM, Ph.D., trumpet
Ray Zepeda,'88 SB, soprano saxophone
(pictured in photograph, by Scott Lichtman)
"'Tutu' was being played frequently on WGBH radio that year, and we were thrilled that Eric Ostling scored such an unusual part for the horns, and let the rhythm section have free reign with the groove."
— Scott Lichtman, member of the FJE, 1987
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Rhythm-A-Ning
Thelonious Monk
Jeff Friedman, arr.
Herb Pomeroy, conductor
April 1981
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Sig Ep
John Cale
Everett Longstreth, guest conductor
Frederick Harris, Music Director
May, 2008
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Portrait of Jenny
Russell Robinson & Gordon Burdge
Kenny Werner, arr.
Frederick Harris, Music Director
April, 2012
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Playhouse
Jamshied Sharifi
James O'Dell, guest conductor
Frederick Harris, Music Director
April 2005
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Go On
Composed and conducted by Jamshied Sharifi
James O'Dell, Music Director (1992-1999)
May, 1992
MIT Jazz Combo
Tombo in 7/4
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Spring 2012
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Experience
Adrian Grossman, '14
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Spring 2012
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Hermanos Latinos
Hermeto Pascoal
arr. by Guillermo Klein
Frederick Harris, Music Director
Fall 2011
Dylan Sherry '12 and Adrian Grossman '14
Blackbird
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Friday the 13th
Theolonius Monk
Performed by Emerson Scholars, Dylan Sherry '12, saxophone; Adrian Grossman '14, electric bass
MIT Jazz Combo
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
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
Blues and the Abstract Truth
Oliver Nelson
Frederick Harris, Music Director
2011
MIT Jazz Combo
Nica's Dream
Horace Silver
2011
MIT Jazz Combo
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
MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble
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.