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Also Featured, Trumpeter Christian Scott '04 and Jazz Vocalist Jeremy Ragsdale '05
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Victor Mendoza
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Kim Grant Photo
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BOSTON, November 24, 2003 — The internationally renowned Berklee College of Music Rainbow Band, directed by trombonist and Berklee Professor Phil Wilson, will celebrate its 38th anniversary with "A Berklee Jazz Festival" on Thursday, December 4, 2003. Making a special appearance with the 22-piece big band will be two of today's finest Latin jazz artists, internationally renowned vibraphonist, composer, and Berklee Professor Victor Mendoza, and famed Puerto Rican percussionist and Berklee Associate Professor Eguie Castrillo.
Also featured will be students Christian Scott '04 on trumpet, jazz vocalist Jeremy Ragsdale '05, and the new jazz group Against the Grain. The concert will be a mélange of styles, from New Orleans, Latin, and big band jazz, to Gospel, featuring arrangements by Phil Wilson, Danilo Pérez, Bernardo Hernandez, Kyoko Satoh, and Chie Imaizumi.
The Berklee Rainbow Band's great evening of jazz begins at 8:15 p.m. in the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, in Boston. Tickets are $5, $2 for seniors, and are available at the Performance Center box office, 617-747-2261. For more information on Berklee events, visit the Berklee Events Calendar.
Considered by critics around the world to be one of today's finest Latin jazz artists, Mexican-born vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza's career includes performances with his own group and as guest soloist around the globe. Recent presentations include guest appearances with the World Festival Orchestra under the direction of Paquito D'Rivera, the Milan Svoboda Orchestra in Prague, sold-out shows at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and in Tel Aviv, and as soloist with the Carlos Chávez Symphony Orchestra in Mexico City.
Mendoza has recorded and performed with such artists as Paquito D'Rivera, Danilo Pérez, Michel Camilo, Claudio Roditi, and Giovanni Hidalgo. Mendoza's This is Why earned him a nod by Latin Beat Magazine as one of the Outstanding Latin Jazz Artists of the Year. Black Bean Blues, Mendoza's most recent recording, was named one of the best Latin jazz recordings of the year by Modern Drummer, and Jazziz dubbed him "the genre's leading vibraphone practitioner" and "one of today's most resourceful composers."
Percussionist and Associate Professor Eguie Castrillo has performed with Tito Puente, Steve Winwood, Michael Brecker, Ruben Blades, the United Nation Orchestra, Paquito D'Rivera, Michel Camilo, KC and the Sunshine Band, Dave Valentin, and Giovanni Hidalgo.
Castrillo tours with the Arturo Sandoval Band, and his recordings include Sandoval's Hot House and The Latin Train, the soundtrack for "The Perez Family" for MGM, Get Down Live! with KC and the Sunshine Band, and A GRP Celebration of the Songs of the Beatles.
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Eguie Castrillo
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New Orleans native Christian Scott '04 has successfully absorbed the rich musical heritage of his family. After receiving a trumpet as a gift from his mother and grandmother at age 12, he began to explore his talents, under the tutelage of his uncle, modern jazz innovator, saxophonist Donald Harrison, Jr. (Berklee '80). In addition to continuing his musical education with Harrison, Scott also attended the prestigious New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), whose alumni include Harrison, Harry Connick, Jr., the Marsalises, Terence Blanchard, and Nicholas Payton. Upon graduation, Scott was awarded the highest honor of all his classmates.
Scott received a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee, where he is now a senior. As a member of Harrison's ensemble, he has performed throughout Europe, Asia and South, Central, and North America. He appears on Harrison's most recent release, Real Life Stories and the soon to be released Kind of New, a tribute to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
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Jeremy Ragsdale
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Farnsworth Blalock Photo
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Although born in Providence, Rhode Island, Jeremy Ragsdale '05 grew up surrounded by music in Annapolis, Maryland. He began studying classical piano at age 7, but became increasingly more interested in contemporary music in the years to follow. His father Scott, a Berklee College of Music alumnus and an arranger for the United States Navy Band, trained Ragsdale early on in the areas of jazz harmony and arranging. Using both his piano and harmony experience, he began to play the piano professionally by the age of 12.
Realizing his talent as a singer, Ragsdale spent much of his middle and high school life performing in musical theatre productions and choruses. He also performed at New York's Carnegie Hall with the 1999 MENC All-Eastern Division Honors Choir, and with the 2000 GRAMMY High School Jazz Choir, including a professional recording at Sony Music Studios, and gigs at well-known jazz clubs and venues in and around Los Angeles.
As a member of the jazz vocal quartet Syncopation, Ragsdale has performed in Japan and at the Boston Globe Jazz and Blues Festival and will appear with the group in January at IAJE.
Formed by Phil Wilson 38 years ago, The Berklee Rainbow Band includes some of the college's top instrumentalists from around the world. One of Berklee's premier ensembles, the Rainbow Band has been featured at numerous festivals, including the Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival in the south of France; the Eastern States MENC Convention in Pittsburgh; the Tri-City Jazz Festival in Cleveland; two Vineyard Vibes festivals on Martha's Vineyard, MA; and this year's Boston Globe Jazz and Blues Festival and San Jose Jazz Festival. Last year, the Berklee Rainbow Band was invited to perform at the Hollywood Bowl for "Autumn Eve — A Tribute to Woody Herman," which was filmed for PBS.
Phil Wilson was lead trombone player in Woody Herman's now-famous 1960's band, playing on and contributing arrangements to nine Woody Herman albums. Wilson joined the Berklee faculty in September 1965 and has been an active part of the evolution of Berklee into an internationally acclaimed institution. Wilson has also performed with Louis Armstrong, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Thad Jones, Clark Terry, as well as the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.
Prominent Berklee alumni who were members of Phil Wilson's Rainbow bands include Greg Abate '68, Gary Anderson '69, Darren Barrett '90, Art Barron '78, Seamus Blake '92, Alan Broadbent '69, Tommy Campbell '79, Terri Lyne Carrington '83, Carol Chaikin '80, Cyrus Chestnut '85, Anat Cohen '98, Joe Cohn '90, Richie Cole '67, Hal Crook '71, Mike Crotty '72, Billy Drewes '74, Christine Fawson '02, George Garzone '72, Dino Govoni '83, Jan Hammer '69, Roy Hargrove '89, Kari Harris '00, Antonio Hart '91, Christopher Hollyday '96, Christian Jacob '84, Mark Kelley '03, Dave Kikoski '82, Alisa Miles '02, John LaBarbera '67, Abe Laboriel, Jr, '93 and Sr.'72, Kuumbwa Frank Lacy '81, Tony Lada '72, Nick Lane '77, John Lockwood '77, Harvey Mason '68, Bill McFarlin '81, Rob Mounsey '75, Wolfgang Muthspiel '90, Wayne Naus '76, Tiger Okoshi '75, Greg Osby '83, Makoto Ozone '83, Keith O'Quinn '73, Danilo Pérez '88, Bill Pierce '73, Marty Richards '86, Scott Robinson '81, Claudio Roditi '70, Adrian Ross '96, John Scofield '73, Daniela Schächter '02, Kendrick Scott '03, Sal Spicola '71, Harvie Swartz '70, Jack Walrath '68, Mamiko Watanabe '03, Ernie Watts '66, (Count Basie and Manhattan Transfer arranger) Dennis Wilson '74, Marshall Wood '83, and Chihiro Yamanaka '00.
Berklee College of Music was founded on the revolutionary principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music was through the study and practice of contemporary music. For over half a century, the college has evolved constantly to reflect the state of the art of music and the music business. With over a dozen performance and non-performance majors, a diverse and talented student body representing 70-plus countries, and a music industry "who's who" of alumni, Berklee is the world's premier learning lab for the music of today — and tomorrow.
For more information, or photos, please contact:
Toni Ballard
Publicist
Berklee College of Music
tballard@berklee.edu
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