Jazz Musicians to Perform with USU Ensembles

Utah State University alum Dana Landry brings his jazz trio to Utah State University for a three-day mini-residency. He, along with trio members Erik Applegate and Jim White will work and perform with USU jazz students. The residency is made possible by a grant from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation. (See related concert story in Utah State Today’s Announcement section.)

The jazz program based in the department of music at USU and is a part of the Caine School of the Arts in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

 

Landry is a jazz pianist who is director of jazz studies at the University of Northern Colorado. He is a USU graduate and has performed with many jazz artists, including Milt Jackson, Bela Fleck, Bill Watrous, Lew Tabackin, David Liebman, Marvin Stamm, Slide Hamton and many others. He has made club and festival appearances in Europe, Australia and throughout the United States. While living in Tennessee, he served as the principal pianist with the Tennessee Philharmonic and performed several concerts each year with the Nashville Symphony. He recently released his first CD as a leader, the Grammy-nominated Journey Home (Summit Records).

 

At USU, Landry is joined by two long-time musical collaborators, bassist Erik Applegate, and drummer Jim White, both faculty members in the highly regarded jazz studies program at the University of Northern Colorado.

 

JazzReview.com has called Applegate “a top-notch acoustic bass performer.” He has performed throughout the United States with a host of jazz artists. He toured with James Williams and in a trio with Harold Mabern and Ed Thigpen, and has appeared at the Montreux and North Sea jazz festivals in Europe, and the Glenelg jazz festival in Australia. He can be heard on several Jazz Week Top 20 recordings, including Dana Landry’s Journey Home. He is an active clinician, teaches at several summer jazz workshops. He holds degrees from Berklee College of Music and the University of Northern Colorado.

 

White is an assistant professor of jazz studies in Colorado. He was recruited by Maynard Ferguson for his “Big Bop Nouveau” band and toured Japan, Sweden, Germany, Austria and the United States. He is featured on Ferguson’s 1992 live recording, Footpath Café. From 1995-02 he toured and recorded regularly with Grammy-award winning singer Crystal Gayle. He has performed with other diverse artists, including Joey DeFrancesco, Charlie Peacock, Pam Tillis, Rosemary Clooney, Bela Fleck, Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss and Union Station.

 

The Dana Landry Trio will perform with students at USU, Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the Kent Concert Hall in the Chase Fine Arts Center. Tickets are available at the door.

 

Contact: Jon Gudmundson [gudmundson@hass.usu.edu]  (435) 797-3003

Contact: Todd Fallis [tfallis@hass.usu.edu] (435) 797-3005

Source: Jazz Program, Music Dept.