Jazz Concerts, Weill Music on the Push for UB Faculty of Music – UBNow: News and Views for UB Faculty and Staff

Music lovers are in for a treat this month as UB music teachers host back-to-back concerts that showcase two very different genres of music.

The first is “Degenerate Music: Weill, Eisler and Schoenberg,” a chamber music recital that is part of UB’s contribution to the Kurt Weill Festival presented by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. on March 28 at the Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.

The following night, the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet will perform “Derrick Gardner, Trumpet, with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet and Friends,” an evening of jazz featuring acclaimed trumpeter Derrick Gardner. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on March 29 at the Lippes Concert Hall at Slee Hall, North Campus.

“Degenerate Music” will feature guest violinist Kathrein Allbenberg, as well as UB faculty members Leanne Darling, viola; Tiffany Du Mouchelle, soprano; Jonathan Golove, cello; Eric Huebner, piano; Caroline Sonett, flute; and Michael Tumiel, clarinet, in a program featuring the work of Weill, who was the leading German opera composer of his generation before fleeing Nazi Germany and becoming a Broadway star.

Born in Berlin, Allbenberg is known for bringing intimacy and fun to her performances, regardless of genre or venue. She studied with Thomas Brandis, first violin of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The program:

Kurt Weill: Cello Sonata (1920)

Kurt Weill: Seven Pieces from The Threepenny Opera for violin and piano (arr. Stefan Frenkel)

Hanns Eisler: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1924)

Hanns Eisler: “Vierzehn Arten den Regen zu beschreiben (14 ways of describing rain)”, op. 70 for violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet and piano

Cabaret songs by Kurt Weill and Arnold Schönberg

Schönberg: Two Songs from “Brettl-Lieder” (Cabaret Songs) (1901)

“Gigerlette” (Text by Otto Julius Bierbaum)

“Galathée” (Text by Frank Wedekind)

Kurt Weill: three songs

“Complaint of the Seine” (Text by Maurice Magre, composed in 1934)

“Youkali” by Marie Galante (Text by Roger Fernay, composed in 1934)

“Wie lange noch” (Text by Walter Mehring, composed in 1944)

The faculty lineup and genre will change the following night with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet – featuring Bobby Militello, saxophone; George Caldwell, piano; Sabu Dawoud Adeyola, bass; and John Bacon, drums – join Gardner and tenor saxophonist Andrew Weinzler and trombonist John Hasselback for a program of Gardner’s work. The program includes “The crucible, “Earl’s Twirl”, “Funky Straight”, “Lazara”, “Slim Goodie” and “MacDaddy Grip”, as well as “Natural Woman” by Carol King.

A performer, bandleader and composer, Gardner drew inspiration from the best funky bop bands of the 1960s. He quickly made his mark when he arrived on the New York jazz scene in 1991, where he began a high-flying career which took him around the world performing internationally with the Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick Jr.’ s Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and European Sextet by Swiss tenor Roman Schwaller.

The Jazz Prophets, the sextet formed by Gardner in 1991, continues to be the main vehicle for his distinctive and driving music.

Tickets for “Degenerate Music” and “Derrick Gardner, trumpet, with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet and Friends” are available at a variety of outlets at the following price structure:

Faculty, staff, alumni, seniors and non-UB students

$10 plus $2 online fee on Ticketfly

$10 plus $4 fee by phone at 877-987-6487 (Ticketfly)

$14 in person at the Center des arts (12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Friday)

$17 in person at the door (one hour before concert time)

General public

$15 plus $2 online fee on Ticketfly

$15 plus $4 fee by phone at 877-987-6487 (Ticketfly)

$19 in person at the Center des arts (12 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Friday)

$22 in person at the door (one hour before concert time)

UB students are admitted free upon presentation of ID.

For a complete listing of all concerts presented by the Department of Music, visit the department’s website.