(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)November 15, 2000

(Mahwah) – Jeremy Wall, a founding member of Spyro Gyra, producer, keyboardist, and Grammy-nominated composer, will perform Saturday, December 9 at 8 p.m. in the Sharp Theater at Ramapo College of New Jersey. His ensemble embraces elements of jazz, pop, classical and world music.

One of the creators of Spyro Gyra, Billboard’s top jazz group of the 1980s, Wall has appeared on all 18 of their records in various roles as composer, producer, arranger and keyboardist. He was staff arranger for CTI Records, the granddaddy of all jazz fusion labels, for three years. He has been in demand as producer, arranger and keyboardist on top album projects in the jazz, pop and classical fields since 1978. With over 60 of his compositions released on records and CDs, he ranks as one of the premier composers in contemporary jazz. His two solo releases, Cool Running and Stepping to the New World, were chart-topping NAC radio hits in recent years.

Spyro Gyra’s Morning Dance album, nearing two million sold, was paced by Wall’s four compositions. Of the four videos released by the group, two were based on his tunes. His composition “Shakedown” received a 1987 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental. In all, 38 of Wall’s compositions have appeared on the six million units the group has sold over the years. He also produced seven highly acclaimed crossover records with Richard Stolzman, the premiere classical clarinetist in the world. The album, Begin Sweet World, was cited by Stereo Review as the top classical crossover record of the year.

Wall’s career has run the gamut from barroom blues to Carnegie Hall. He has produced and arranged records with pop singers like Astrud Gilberto, Patti Austin and Judy Collins. He has collaborated with jazz legends the likes of Stanley Clarke, Gary Burton, John McLaughlin and Tony Williams. He has logged numerous sessions with studio aces such as Steve Gadd, Will Lee and Marcus Miller.

The Sharp Theater is located in Ramapo College’s Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. Tickets are: $15 general admission; $10 seniors; $5 students. For more information, please call (201) 684-7888.

Upon his return to the U.S. in 1977, he began a series of master classes at such institutions as Harvard University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, DePaul University and Indiana University. His goal was not only to inspire his students to bring their entire selves to their vocation, but to guide them in discovering the disciplined tradition and social history of the unique American art form known as jazz.

Hampton and his World of Trombones, comprised of nine trombones and a rhythm section, performed and recorded to great critical acclaim. In 1989, along with Paquito D’Rivera, Hampton was the musical director of Dizzy Gillespie’s Grammy-Award winning United Nations Orchestra. In 1990, he collaborated with Gillespie as the arranger and conductor of the maestro’s first original score for a feature film, The Winter in Lisbon. In 1992, Hampton was invited to be the musical director of Dizzy’s Diamond Jubilee, a yearlong series of celebrations honoring Gillespie’s 75th birthday. In 1998, his colleagues awarded him the Grammy Award for “Best Jazz Arrangement with a Vocalist.” Currently, Hampton is the musical advisor to the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, featuring artists such as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Betty Carter and Vanessa Williams.

In the late ’50s, Jobim, poet Vinicius de Moraes and vocalists Joao Gilberto and Nara Ledo created a distilled form of the samba known as the bossa nova (new thing). Jobim’s haunting score for the movie Black Orpheus garnered him worldwide fame and in 1962 he recorded Jazz Samba with guitarist Charlie Byrd and tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, which established the bossa nova’s popularity in the U.S. For the next three decades Jobim collaborated with many well-known jazz figures, including Ron Carter, and orchestra leaders such as Nelson Riddle. He also worked with Frank Sinatra and, shortly before his death in 1994, recorded with Sting on his last recording, Brasiliero.

The Sharp Theater is located in Ramapo College’s Angelica and Russ Berrie Center for Performing and Visual Arts. Tickets are: $15 general admission; $10 seniors; $5 students. For more information, please call (201) 684-7888.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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