Jazz Ensemble I
OkMEA Honor Band Performance
Tulsa Performing Arts Center
January 19, 2023 7PM
UCO Jazz Ensemble I
Brian Gorrell, Director
PROGRAM
After You’ve Gone
Creamer/Layton
Arr. Bill Holman
All of Me
Simons/Marks
Arr. Thad Jones
‘Round Midnight
Williams/Monk
Arr. Slide Hampton
Notorious Tourist from the East
Toshiko Akiyoshi
Body & Soul
Green/Sour/Heyman/Eyton
Arr. Will Campbell
Waltz for Debby
Bill Evans
Arr. Don Sebesky
Time Check
Don Menza
JAZZ ENSEMBLE I MEMBERS
Saxophones
Samuel Vaughn
Alto Sax I
Eric Neel
Alto Sax II
Nicholas Cockerill
Tenor Sax I
Jeffrey Stevenson
Tenor Sax II
Matthew Stevenson
Bari Sax
Trombones
Naomi Wharry
Trombone I
Tyler Gitthens
Trombone II
Austin Oden
Trombone III
Mason Longey
Trombone IV
Ben Curtis
Bass Trombone
Trumpets
Jack Cheatham
Trumpet I
Cameron Hadley
Trumpet II
Caleb Rollins
Trumpet III
Brock Lewis
Trumpet IV
Cameron Cox
Trumpet V
Rhythm
Tahlon Brahic
Piano
Eric Wall
Guitar
Nelson Gonzalez
Bass
Kyle Broadbooks
Drums
LETTERS OF CONGRATULATIONS
Charleen Weidell, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and Design
Members of Oklahoma Music Educators Association,
It is my sincere pleasure to offer congratulations to the UCO Jazz Ensemble I for this prestigious opportunity to perform at your 2023 Oklahoma Music Educators Association Conference. The selection of this group validates what I observe every day in our School of Music—world-class instruction of exceptional students leads to outstanding performances.
Our College of Fine Arts and Design combines the experience of Oklahoma’s oldest public educational institution with groundbreaking thinking about the role of the arts in the 21st century. As you are already aware, our School of Music is recognized nationwide as one of Oklahoma’s foremost institutions for preparing professional musicians in all fields.
Thank you again for selecting us as an Honor Group and allowing our students and faculty to showcase their musical talent at your conference.
Charleen Weidell, Dean
UCO College of Fine Arts and Design
Rob Glaubitz, Director of the School of Music
Members of Oklahoma Music Educators Association:
As Director of the UCO School of Music, I am overjoyed that University of Central Oklahoma’s Jazz Ensemble I has been selected as one of the Honor Groups at the 2023 Oklahoma Music Educators Association Conference. This well-deserved honor reflects the talent and commitment of all the UCO music students who are a part of UCO’s award-winning jazz program. The selection also highlights the exemplary leadership of Brian Gorrell as the head of the UCO Jazz Division as well as the dedication and pedagogy of our UCO instrumental and jazz faculty who teach and guide these students.
This year’s group continues the long tradition of success in jazz performance for the University of Central Oklahoma. Recognized nationally for its excellence in Downbeat Magazine multiple times in the last ten years, UCO Jazz Ensemble I has been selected to perform at numerous prestigious festivals including a recent appearance at the 2021 Midwest Clinic and the 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival. At the heart of this prolonged success is UCO’s positive and student-centered approach to instruction combined with an innovative curriculum which is unique in Oklahoma and a high level of artistry in every aspect of the jazz program.
Thank you to OkMEA for inviting UCO Jazz Ensemble I to perform in 2023. I am proud to be associated with such excellent students and faculty and I am excited for their opportunity to showcase their work at such a prestigious event.
Sincerely,
Rob Glaubitz
Director
UCO School of Music
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Brian W. Gorrell serves as director of jazz studies for the nationally respected program at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former member of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra among many other professional accolades, Gorrell also serves as advisor for UCO’s Master of Music in jazz studies and Bachelor of Music in jazz performance, teaches applied saxophone and directs the award winning “UCO Jazz Ensemble I”. Under his direction, UCO’s top jazz group has been recognized for outstanding large ensemble performances in Downbeat Magazine’s 35thAnnual Student Music Awards in 2012 and again in the 39thAnnual Awards in 2016. The group also performed at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in December 2013 and notably at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences in 2012, 2013, 2017 and Reno, NV, in January 2019. Most recently “UCO Jazz Ensemble 1” tied first place in the collegiate jazz ensemble division at the prestigious Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival in March 2018, and was featured on the main stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2018! Gorrell has also presented lectures on jazz and saxophone pedagogy at Oklahoma Music Educators Conferences, Regional North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conferences and at the NASA Biennial National Conference in 2016. He also currently serves as music director for the Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra. Professor Gorrell completed a bachelor’s degree in music education from UCO in 1995 and earned a Master of Music in saxophone performance at Oklahoma City University studying with acclaimed classical saxophonist Gail Hall in 1998.
Equally proficient on saxophones and keyboards, Gorrell has produced many album projects including “In Some Other World” (1995), “Soulmates” (1999), “In The Swing of Christmas” (2002), “Live at the UCO Jazz Lab” (2008), and as director, “Swingin’ in 2012”, “Still Swingin’ in 2015”, and “Spirit of Monterey 2018” with UCO’s Jazz Ensemble I. In addition to the Welk Orchestra, he has performed with such diverse notables as Doc Severinsen, The Manhattan Transfer, Aretha Franklin, Louie Bellson, Phil Woods, Kris Berg and the Metroplexity Big Band, the OKC Jazz Orchestra, the Edmond Jazz Orchestra, Jay Migliori, Jay Daversa, John Daversa, Clark Terry, The Lennon Sisters, Ralna English, Patti Page, Slide Hampton, Kay Starr, Steve Allen, Jim Nabors, Ty England, Diane Schuur, Christopher Cross, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Drifters, Gil Goldstein, Randy Brecker, Dave Douglas, John Fedchock, and many others.
Gorrell has always been passionate about music education and has been aggressive in developing new programs at UCO including a Minor in Jazz Studies and Oklahoma’s only Master of Music in Jazz Studies, with majors in Performance and Music Production. He founded the Oklahoma Youth Jazz Ensemble in 2012, which offers advanced jazz education to top high school students in Central Oklahoma, and in addition completed work on a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance degree at UCO that began in Fall 2016. The Oklahoma Jazz Educators Association has twice named him “Collegiate Jazz Educator of the Year”, and his band “Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company” have been performing regularly since 1995 throughout the Midwest.
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