Madison WI 53703
USA
The week-long Madison residency by jazz scholar Maxine Gordon, widow and manager of the late legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon, wraps up with an extraordinary concert of music from Dexter’s repertoire in the intimate setting of Madison’s only fully-dedicated jazz club, Café CODA. UW Jazz Studies Director Johannes Wallmann will serve as Music Director for this special concert, leading a band of three outstanding saxophonists backed by a rhythm section of jazz faculty members from UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music:
- Hanah Jon Taylor, saxophone
- Sharel Cassity, saxophone
- Eric Koppa, saxophone
- Johannes Wallmann, piano
- Nick Moran, bass
- Matt Endres, drums
The performances will include a mix of quartets, quintets, and sextets, with one or more of our featured saxophonists accompanied on each tune by the rhythm section of Johannes, Nick and Matt. Maxine Gordon will also be on hand to greet fans, sell and sign her new book, “Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon,” which has received glowing reviews, e.g., from the New York Times, and won the 2019 “Book of the Year” award this past May from the national Jazz Journalists Association. Click here for info on the other three public events in Maxine’s Madison residency.
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Hanah Jon Taylor. Madison has been fortunate to have internationally-recognized woodwind player and Café CODA owner Hanah Jon Taylor living and working among us for the past 36 years. Recent winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Madison Area Music Association (MAMA), Hanah has been a long-time member of the pioneering Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He has performed worldwide with musicians ranging from Nina Simone, Miles Davis, many of the AACM’s leading lights, to Woodstock-famous singer-songwriter Richie Havens. Besides developing Café CODA, Hanah’s many contributions to our community include his Madison Center for the Creative and Cultural Arts, which offered concerts and multi-arts classes, and his production of Freedom Fest which included performances by the likes of Archie Shepp, Sonny Fortune, Richard Davis, Cecil McBee, Edward Wilkerson, Dee Alexander, Corey Wilkes and Roscoe Mitchell. Hanah currently serves on the Overture Center Foundation board of directors.
Sharel Cassity. Currently a visiting faculty member in UW-Madison’s Jazz Studies program, where she leads the Jazz Composers Ensemble, Sharel Cassity was voted among the world’s top five rising star alto saxophonists in Downbeat magazine’s 2018 Critic’s Poll, marking her 9th straight year of recognition in the poll. Sharel is a regular member of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie Afro Cuban Experience, Nicholas Payton’s TSO, Cyrus Chestnut’s Brubeck Quartet and the Jimmy Heath Big Band, and was lead alto in the Diva Jazz Orchestra from 2007-14. She has toured 24 countries and performed at leading venues like the Newport Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, and the North Sea Jazz Festival. After 16 years living and working in New York City with the world’s top jazz musicians, Sharel is now a member of the storied Chicago jazz scene. Her latest album, and fourth as a leader, is “Evolve,” a jazz mix-genre project featuring a collection of originals as well as reimagined compositions by Alicia Keys and Bjork.
Eric Koppa. Now living and working in Oshkosh, where he’s a leader in the Fox Valley’s jazz scene, saxophonist Eric Koppa returns for this all-too-rare Madison concert appearance. Eric performed with several of our community’s top jazz ensembles during his years in Madison and, through a special relationship with legendary alto saxophonist Richie Cole, led Madison’s Alto Madness Jazz Orchestra, which performed from a book of over 200 of Richie’s compositions and big band arrangements. Before moving to Madison, Eric toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, performed with jazz stars like saxophonists James Carter and Bob Berg, trombonist Bill Watrous, trumpeter Marvin Stamm, and pianist Kenny Werner. He was also an active member of Chicago’s jazz community in the early 2000s, where he recorded his debut album, “Evolution: The Calling,” with a septet that included bassist Matt Ulery.
Johannes Wallmann. A celebrated pianist and composer, Johannes has been a leading force in Greater Madison’s jazz community since arriving here in 2012 to direct the UW’s new Jazz Studies program. Over the past 8+ years, Johannes has performed with the finest local and touring musicians while directing several student ensembles, hosting residencies by the likes of trumpeters Marquis Hill and Brian Lynch, and serving on the board of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium. Johannes has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia and has recorded 8 critically-acclaimed albums as a leader, including 4 that were recorded during his Madison years. His most recent releases (2018) are “Day and Night” and “Love Wins.” Among the most experienced jazz educators of his generation, Johannes spent 12 years in New York City performing and teaching (at New York University and the New School). He went on to build a strong jazz program from scratch at California State University’s East Bay campus while being an active performer on the San Francisco Bay Area’s jazz scene for 5 years.
Nick Moran. A prolific bassist on electric and double bass, Madison native Nick Moran performs a diverse array of musical genres including Jazz, Afro Latin, Hip Hop, Reggae, Funk, and more. He has been a leader/member of prominent local bands including Golpe Tierra, the New Breed, Phat Phunktion, the Acoplados Latin Jazz Project, El Clan Destino, Dumate, Tani Diakite & the Afrofunkstars, and Madisalsa. Nick has toured internationally, most recently to India with Golpe Tierra and to Cuba as part of the Madison-Camaguey Cultural Exchange, and performed with world-renowned musicians like David “Fathead” Newman, Clyde Stubblefield, Ben Sidran, Roberto “Vizcaino” Guillot, and DJ Kool Herc. Pioneering producer of several Greater Madison Jazz Consortium programs (Strollin’ jazz festivals, InDIGenous JAZZ concert series, and Artistic Development Program), Nick also serves as an instructor at UW-Madison’s Jazz Studies Program, teaching bass with individual students and directing two student bands: the Afro-Cuban Jazz and Jazz Standards Ensembles.
Matt Endres. Adjunct Professor of Jazz Drums and Jazz History at UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music since 2017, Sauk City native Matt Endres has fast become one of the most in-demand drummers on Greater Madison’s jazz scene. Before arriving on campus in Fall 2017, Matt performed extensively as a bandleader and sideman in national and international venues, and is the drummer for the Downbeat award-winning ensemble, “Old Style Sextet.” He has worked with such stellar jazz artists as saxophonists Chris Potter and Charles McPherson, trumpeters Doc Severinsen, Ron Bridgewater and Tito Carrillo, and bassists Rufus Reid and Chris Brubeck among many others.
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The Dexter Gordon Tribute Concert is presented by the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, with support from the John and Carolyn Peterson Charitable Foundation, WORT-FM, and a generous local group individual jazz lovers.
