Aardvark Jazz Orchestra

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The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra performing in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2007.

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is an American big band .

Band history

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra was founded in 1973 by trumpeter and composer Mark Harvey , who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge , Massachusetts . The orchestra's repertoire includes both classical titles by the Duke Ellington Orchestra and original compositions by Mark Harvey. Guests such as Jaki Byard , Harvey Cox , Ken Filiano , Jimmy Giuffre , Vinny Golia , Sheila Jordan , Frank London , Paul Lovens , Rajesh Mehta and Tomas Ulrich joined a solid base of musicians, including Taylor Ho Bynum and Bill Lowe and Jane Wang . The ensemble has won various awards, including The Independent Music Award for Best Jazz Song ( Scamology ) in 2000, and has made a number of recordings including the Christmas album An Aardvark Christmas and an album of excerpts from Duke Ellington's sacred concerts.

Musician

Woodwind instruments
  • Arni Cheatham
  • Peter Bloom
  • Brad Jones
  • Mark Messier
  • Phil Scarff
  • Daniel Ian Smith
  • Chris Rakowski
  • Dan Zupan
Trumpets
  • KC Dunbar
  • Jeanne Snodgrass
  • Taylor Ho Bynum
Trumpets
  • Bob Pilkington
  • Jay Keyser
  • Jeff Marsanskis
  • Bill Lowe
Rhythm section
  • Richard Nelson - guitar
  • John Funkhouser - bass, piano
  • Jerry Edwards - bass
  • Harry Wellott - drums
singing
  • Grace Hughes
  • Jerry Edwards

Discography

  • Aardvark Steps Out (1993, Nine Winds Records )
  • Paintings for Jazz Orchestra (1995, Leo Records )
  • An Aardvark Christmas (with Sheila Jordan , 1997, Nine Winds Records)
  • Psalms & Elegies (1997, Leo Records)
  • The Seeker (2000, Leo)
  • Duke Ellington / Sacred Music (2003, Aardmuse )
  • Bethlehem Counterpoint (2003, Aardmuse)
  • Trumpet Madness (2005, Leo)
  • No Walls / A Christmas Concert (2007, Aardmuse)
  • American Agonistes (2008, Leo Records)
  • Evocations (2012, Leo Records)
  • Impressions (2014, Leo)
  • Richard Nelson / Aardvark Jazz Orchestra: Deep River (2015, Heliotrope)
  • Faces of Souls (2020, Leo)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Angela MS Nelson: This Is How We Flow: Rhythm in Black Cultures , p. 153.
  2. ↑ http://web.mit.edu/mharvey/www/BBB/index2.htm