JAll MESSENGERS:
A CELEBRATION OF
THE MUSIC OF ART
BLAKEY
MICHAEL KOCOUR, PIANO
CATALIN ROTARU, BASS
DOM MOIO, DRUMS

FACULTY ARTIST CONCERT SERIES
KATZIN CONCERT HALL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007 • 7:30 PM

M USIC
-4-1--erberger College
of the Arts
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Art Blakey is recalled as one of the finest musicians and bandleaders in the history of jazz.
Along with Max Roach, he established the drums as a front-line instrument, wielding his
sticks with astonishing skill to propel the hard-bop of his acclaimed Jazz Messengers
combo for 36 years. Blakey on drums was no less than a polyrhythmic force of nature,
always alert to interactions with piano and the horns, and always filling his music with
jubilation. His acclaimed press rolls were seemingly preternatural and his touch on cymbals
impeccable. Blakey also excelled as a bandleader/instructor who nurtured three generations
of youngtalent, allowing them to find their own creative wings before embarking on solo
careers.
Born Oct. 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Blakey was originally a pianist. He went to New
York with Mary Lou Williams' combo as a drummer around 1939 and did yeoman service
with Fletcher Henderson's band before joining Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan and other
budding stars in Billy Eckstine's embryonic bebop band. Following his stay with popular
singer Eckstine, he began working New York clubs and contributing to recording sessions
by the likes of Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. In 1954, Blakey directed his firepower
into a combo founded with pianist Horace Silver that had Kenny Dorham on trumpet and
Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone (hear their Blue Note LP At The Cafe Bohemia). With
Silver departing, Blakey and company rolled on, the ranks most always filled with
superlative young players. Among those under his tutelage at one time or another in the
'50s were trumpeters Bill Hardman and Lee Morgan, saxophonists Jackie McLean and
Benny Golson (who provided the band with durable tunes "Moanin'," "Blues March" and
"Along Comes Betty") and pianist Bobby Timmons.
Tenor player Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and trombonist Curtis Fuller
were Jazz Messengers for part of the '60s, touring and cutting Blue Note gems like Mosaic
(1961) and Free For All (1964). Although jazz suffered a commercial slump in the late '60s
and '70s, Blakey carried on with other fine student musicians including Woody Shaw,
George Cables, Bobby Watson and Chuck Mangione. But it was the arrival of the 19-yearold trumpet wizard Wynton Marsalis in 1979 that gave rise to widespread interest in
Blakey's cooperative quintets, sextets and septets. Not even Marsalis' decision to go solo
could impede the Jazz Messengers' momentum; Blakey remained a tireless dynamo of
creativity and prize students like Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Robin Eubanks,
Benny Green, Kenny Garrett and Geoff Keezer improvised with creativity and emotional
commitment. Only Blakey's death on Oct. 16, 1990, could silence the world-acclaimed Jazz
Messengers. –downbeat.com
Michael Kocour is an Associate Professor and the Director of Jazz Studies in the School of
Music at Arizona State University's Herberger College of Fine Arts. Hailed by the
Chicago Tribune as "one of the most sophisticated pianists in jazz," Kocour has performed
at the 1992 World's Fair in Seville, the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, the Blue Note in New
York, and the Chicago, Montreal and Quebec City Jazz festivals. Among the many artists
and ensembles with whom he has appeared are Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Harris, James
Moody, Eddie Daniels, Randy Brecker, Benny Golson, Ira Sullivan, Carl Fontana, Dewey
Redman, Lew Tebackin, and the Chicago Symphony.
His recorded work as a studio musician includes soundtracks to two major motion
pictures, and numerous television commercials. He has eight works published by Warner
Brothers, which include collections of original compositions and arrangements for piano.
His most recent recording, "Speaking In Tongues," (Tempest) hit number forty-seven on
the jazzweek.com jazz chart in March 2007 and prompted an invitation to perform on
NPR's award winning internationally syndicated program Marian McPartland's Piano
Jazz. The program will air in Phoenix at 9 PM, Saturday, November 17, 2007 on KJZZ
(91.5 FM).

Program
Bobby Timmons
Horace Silver
Benny Golson
Wayne Shorter

Moanin'
Quicksilver
Along Came Betty
Ping-Pong

**There will be a 10-minute intermission**

Pensativa
Hammer Head
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Ugetsu

Clare Fischer
Wayne Shorter
Rodgers and Hart
Cedar Walton

***************
Out of respect for the performers and those audience members around you, please
turn all beepers, cell phones and watches to their silent mode. Thank you.

Dom Moio has been playing drums since the fifth grade. His first influence was funk
master Bernard Purdie (a drummer for Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin and Steely Dan).
However, after hearing Miles Davis with drummer Jimmy Cobb, Moio's attention was
directed toward Jazz.
Leaving the East Coast in 1979, Moio played with jazz luminaries such as Iv?bse
Allison, Herb Ellis, Ahmad Jamal and Clark Terry. He also had the opportunity to meet and
study with legendary Cuban Master Percussionist Walfredo de los Reyes, Sr. It was then he
developed a life-long passion for Latin rhythms.Among his frequent record dates, Dom has
recorded two
CD's with Jazz Great Carl Fontana. He also recorded with The Jazz Nonet with Chuck
Marohnic and Greg Hopkins. In 1997, Moio had the opportunity to do a re-recording of the
Four Tops hits with the group's original singers, playing both drums and latin percussion.
Mel Bay has published two of Moio's books: Latin Percussion in Perspective and Be-Bop
Phrasing for Drums.Moio is currently teaching a Latin Percussion Class, Music in World
Cultures and private drum lessons at Mesa Community College, as well as keeping a busy
schedule at Arizona State University and travelling as a clinician for Trick Drums, Latin
Percussion, Evans Drum Heads, Calato/Regal Tip Drumsticks and Sabian Cymbals.
Catalin Rotaru joined the School of Music at Arizona State University, in 2005. Mr.
Rotaru is in demand as a performer and clinician throughout the world. He is a licentiate of
the National University of Music from Bucharest, Romania, and holds a Master's degree in
music performance from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Previously he
was Associate Professor of Double Bass and Jazz Studies at the University of WisconsinStevens Point, taught at Millikin University, and at the University of Illinois. He has
performed both solo classical and jazz bass throughout Europe, the United States, South
America and Japan. He served as associate principal bass in the Romanian National Radio
Orchestra, principal bass in the Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra
of Bucharest, Danville Symphony Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra,
associate principal and principal bass in Sinfonia Da Camera, and principal bass of the
Orchestra Sinfonica Europea. Mr. Rotaru performs extensively as soloist in recitals or with
symphony orchestras throughout the United States and abroad and gives numerous clinics
and master classes. He received the second prize at the 1997 International Society of
Bassists Competition and the Jury's Special Award for the best performance of the required
piece at that competition. He was the winner of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Debut Recital Award in 1997, and received the Central Illinois Chapter of the National
Society of Arts and Letters Award in 1996. For the last several years, Professor Rotaru has
been a frequent solo performer at the International Chamber Music Festival of Pernambuco
in Brazil.

EVENTS INFORMATION 480.965.TUNE (480.965.8863)
herbergercollege.asu.edu/calendar

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