jamie begian - news

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RECENT PERFORMANCES NEWS & PROJECTS

 

 

pulse &
take
(ta-keh) dance company
FIVE POINTS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 @ 9:00
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 @ 9:00
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17 @ 8:00

Merce Cunningham Dance Studios
55 Bethune Street - NYC NY
Train:
1/2/3/A/C/E to 14th Street
Tickets: $20/$15 Students & Seniors.


Now, two CD's to choose from!

 

 

 

 

 

www.cdbaby.com           or                 Innova

TRANCE and BIG FAT GRIN (in total or just individual tracks) are also available on Apple's iTunes - very, very cool!

If you prefer, you can still order either of them through me directly via my email at this site mail@jamiebegian.com or purchase it at one of our performances; I'll be happy to sign it for 'ya (if you like!)

Sign up on my mailing list and I'll let you know all about upcoming performances - mail@jamiebegian.com 


Those of you who've heard my big band the past 9+ years are aware of the suite of 4 pieces featuring my outstanding trombone section titled "TAYLORATIONS."  

The pieces are all based on a warm-up exercise by legendary trombonist/composer Dave Taylor, who also happens to be the teacher to 3/4's of my trombone section.  Dave did us the ultimate honor and came out to hear us, and the entire TAYLORATIONS suite, in October, 2004. 

After the show, Dave said he really enjoyed the suite, as well as the entire concert, and that the band was top-notch.  It's always an honor to have a "heavy hitter" come out to a show - thanks to Ben Griffin for setting things up and thanks to Dave Taylor for his inspiration!


Pictured from left to right: Jamie Begian, Deborah Weisz, Ben Griffin, Jacob Garchik, Justin Clark and Dave Taylor
(photo by Marcy Begian)

 


 

The second collaboration between pulse and the TAKE Dance Company took place December 15 - 17 2011 at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio on the West Side of Manhattan.

The pieces were loosely inspired by the condition of "Synesthesia" or "The neurological joining of the senses where for example letters can have color, sounds can have color and colors can have taste" (American Synesthesia Association definition)

My piece is titled: "Colorblind" and if you'd like to see a video of one of the performances click here:


"Distance of the Moon" pulse's collaboration with the  TAKE dance ensemble premiered October 14 & 15 2010 at Judson Memorial Church.  My collaboration with choreographer Jill Echo  on a piece called "Moonshine" closed the show and was a big hit!  Here's a link to a video of my piece as well as easy access to the other outstanding pieces by my pulse colleagues. 


As mentioned above, I've partnered with Innova records to release my second big band record "Big Fat Grin."

 Innova, part of the American Composers Forum, is a great label run by artists themselves who work with each project the same way they treat their own; I'm very happy to be part of the Innova family.

I've put some excerpts of the recording up on my mp3 page for you to checkout.


I'm very proud to be part of is pulse - a federation of six composers dedicated to writing new music that defies categorization and a cohort of musicians dedicated to playing that music. 

In addition to our recent dance projects, pulse had a busy 2009 with our "Scenes From the Hudson" project in collaboration with Joy AskewWe gave performances at Barbes in Brooklyn, Roulette in Manhattan and the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, NY.  It was an especially fun project for me as I got to play guitar on my own piece, 3 of the other composer's pieces and a featured duet with our guest soloist.

In 2008 pulse presented a series of performances in collaboration with triocracy at the Brooklyn Lyceum and at Barbes that was also very fun.  To check out my triocracy piece go to my mp3 page and listen to "Little Brayden Points."

You can also check out the pulse blog here for more audio from all the pulse composers as well as interesting music-blog postings from all the composers.

PULSE COMPOSER FEDERATION

THE PULSE FEDERATION
Pictured from left to right: Joshua Shneider, Joseph C. Phillips Jr, Yumiko Sunami, Jamie Begian,
JC Sanford and Darcy James Argue

(photo by Marcy Begian)


As the full-time director of jazz studies and department chair at  Western Connecticut State University  I'm always up to my eyeballs in all the stuff that makes an outstanding jazz program and music department go 'round, even when school isn't in session!  With the addition of the brilliant saxophonist and composer Jimmy Greene as full time Assistant Coordinator of Jazz Studies in Fall 2012 I know we have the makings of an outstanding jazz education resource for years to come.

I'm also very proud of the adjunct faculty we have at the university: Dave Scott on trumpet, Andrew Beals on alto, Deborah Weisz on trombone, Chris Morrison on guitar, Peter Tomlinson on piano, David Ruffels on bass and Jeff Siegel on drums - you won't easily find a better group of musicians and dedicated group of teachers!

 If you'd like more information about the about the Jazz Studies program at WCSU in general email me at: begianj@wcsu.edu

 


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