Sussman Faculty Recital Celebrates 25 Years at Manhattan School of Music

Celebrating 25 years at Manhattan School of Music!

Part One - Original Music for Jazz Quintet (trumpet, sax & flute, piano, bass, drums)

The Richard Sussman Quintet

featuring:

Joe Magnarelli, trumpet
Steve Slagle, alto sax & flute,
Richard Sussman, piano
Mike Richmond, bass
Jeff Williams, drums

Performing original compositions from their new CD "Live At Sweet Rhythm", on Origin Arts.

http://www.origin-records.com/recordings/recording.php?TitleID=82563

Intermission

Part Two - Original Music for Piano, and String Quartet with Piano, Sax, and Electronics

1. "Metamorphosis (9/11)" - for Solo Piano (2002) Kathy Tagg, piano
2."All Will Be Revealed" - for Piano and String Qurtet (2011) - World Premier
3."Evolution 2"- for Piano, Jazz Soloist, String Quartet, & Electronics (2008) *

with the Sirius String Quartet featuring:

Chern Hwei Fung, violin
Gregor Heubner, violin
Ron Lawrence, viola
Rubin Kodheli, cello

* with Jonathan Ragonese, tenor sax

All music composed and arranged by Richard Sussman

Richard Sussman, Bio

Richard Sussman is a pianist, composer, synthesist, and professor of jazz composition at Manhattan School of Music in New York City. His varied career has included performances with Lionel Hampton, Lee Konitz, Blood Sweat & Tears, David Sanborn, Houston Person, Randy Brecker, Dick Oaats, Bob Mintzer, Tom Harrell, Steve Slagle, and Donna Summer. His jazz discography includes three albums of original music as a leader, including "Free Fall" on Doubletime Jazz, and "Live At Sweet Rhythm" on Origin Arts. Richard has been a member of the jazz faculty at Manhattan School of Music since 1986.

Writing credits include 2 NEA grants in composition for large scale works for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra (Suites #1 & 2 for Jazz Band and Orchestra) as well as arrangements for Lionel Hampton, Blood Sweat & Tears, Mel Lewis, Randy Brecker, the Westchester Jazz Orchestra, the Metropole Orchestra (Holland), WDR Jazz Big Band, pianist Hank Jones, and many others. Richard participated as Synthesizer Programmer on Randy Brecker's 1998 Grammy winning CD "Into The Sun". His extensive work in the field of film and television scoring has included projects for ABC, NBC, CBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney.

http://www.richardsussmanjazz.com/

General Program Notes

2010-2011 will mark my 25th year as a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music. During that time, although I've had my compositions performed by the jazz bands and jazz philharmonic on numerous occasions, I've never given a faculty recital in a small group setting. I thought this might be a suitable occasion to correct that omission, and cause for a little celebration.

The jazz quintet setting has been my preferred choice for live jazz performances for many years. Our most recent CD, The Richard Sussman Quintet Live At Sweet Rhythm" was released in June 2010 on Origin Arts. The first half of the program will feature music for jazz quintet including songs from the new CD as well as some newer compositions.

Since 1985, I have also been exploring the artistic possibilities provided by integratingelements of jazz and 20th century classical compositional techniques, primarily in large orchestral settings. Recently, I have extended this exploration to include elements from contemporary pop music and electronics, and in smaller, chamber ensembles. The music to be presented in the second half of the program will focus on this direction, including a solo piano piece (performed by Kathy Tagg), and two compositions for piano, saxophone, string quartet, and electronics (featuring the SiriusString Quartet and MSM Jazz Arts student Jonathan Ragonese on tenor sax).