The Boise Jazz Society is a Boise, Idaho ~ Boise State University community-engagement partnership, supporting jazz performance, jazz education, and the promotion of jazz as a living American art form.

All BJS memberships have been sold, but we always have a few tickets available
for each specific concerts.  If you would like to be placed on a waiting list for a
particular concert, please email Mike Samball and you will be notified when
general admission tickets become available. 

FOR BOISE JAZZ SOCIETY MEMBERS
Can’t make the Concert?

We have another "sold-out" season and a long "waiting list" for general admission concert tickets.  Please contact Mike Samball ASAP,  if you are not able to attend the upcoming concert on Sunday 29, 2018.

The Eric Alexander Quartet
featuring Harold Mabern with Joe Farnsworth and John Webber

Sunday, September 30, 2018
Riverside Hotel Sapphire Room
Boise Community Jazz Symposium, 4 - 5 pm
Free: All Students and Public Welcome
Limited General Admission Availability
Concert, 7 - 9 pm
Doors Open @ 6 pm
Hors d'oeuvres and Adult Beverages Available

Monday, October 1, 2018
Boise Jazz Society Educational Events
@ Boise State University featuring
The Eric Alexander Quartet
Boise State Morrison Center Recital Hall
Free, Jazz Inform-ance, 4 - 5:15 pm
Free, Jazz Clinics, 5:30 - 6:30 pm

        Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. He started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (1986-87). At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. "The people I listened to in college are still the cats that are influencing me today," says Alexander. "Monk, Dizzy, Sonny Stitt, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson--the legacy left by Bird and all the bebop pioneers, that language and that feel, that's the bread and butter of everything I do. George Coleman remains a big influence because of his very hip harmonic approach, and I'm still listening all the time to Coltrane because I feel that even in the wildest moments of his mid- to late-Sixties solos I can find these little kernels of melodic information and find ways to employ them in my own playing." Please visit: https://www.ericalexanderjazz.com

Check out Eric's quartet, live at the "Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe" on Embraceable You

     Harold Mabern was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee – a city that’s a capital of 20th century American music. Like fellow Memphis jazz artists George Coleman, Booker Little, and Frank Strozier, Mabern attended Manassas High School, and after an early attempt at playing the drums, he taught himself piano and fell under the spell of pianist Phineas Newborn Jr., an influence that would shape and linger with Mabern for the rest of his life.

Along with some other Memphis musicians, Mabern moved to Chicago in in 1954 where he soon found work backing up tenor sax players Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons and Clifford Jordon. He also gained further influence from studying with pianist Ahmad Jamal and played in the hardbop group MJT + 3, before going on to New York City in 1959. “Chicago gave me the stuff I needed—and the confidence,” he recalled in 1987. “New York refined my stuff and it’s still doing it.”

One of his earliest significant gigs was an 18-month stay with Art Farmer and Benny Golson’s Jazztet. After the Jazztet disbanded, Mabern worked with Jimmy Forrest, Lionel Hampton, Donald Byrd and did a brief stint with Miles Davis in 1963.  He worked with J.J. Johnson (1963-65), Lee Morgan(1965) and Hank Mobley- recording the album, Dippin’. Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Williams (1966-67)  Mabern also played in a quartet with guitarist Wes Montgomery. Decades later Mabern praised the joyous quality of Montgomery’s playing and personality and told an interviewer:  The music was challenging. He’d just start playing. He’d say “Mabern, play this with me.” Now, if he had a specific thing he wanted me to play, like say maybe he wanted me to play a figure with him in unison, ok, and I’d pick it right up because of the fact that I’m self taught, always had to use my ears anyway… Then there’d be times when he’d say, “Mabern, you play this with me,” and it might be the harmony part to what he’s playing…whatever way, it was always a challenge. He always said, “Mabern, you’re a bad cat.” And I’d say, “Oh, I’m just trying to keep up with you.”

In more recent years, he has toured and recorded extensively with his former William Paterson University student, the tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. To date, Mabern and Alexander have appeared on over twenty CDs together. A longtime faculty member at William Paterson University since 1981, Mabern is also a frequent instructor at the Stanford Jazz Workshop.  Please visit: http://haroldmabern.jazzgiants.net/

        One of the most highly regarded jazz drummers on the scene today, Joe Farnsworth is known for his blazing speed, precision, musical, and melodic playing.  Born in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1968, Joe grew up in a musical family; his father was a music educator and he has four older brothers, two of whom became professional musicians.  

He studied with Alan Dawson and Arthur Taylor prior to attending and graduating from William Patterson College in New Jersey in 1994 where he began playing with saxophonist, Eric Alexander and guitarist, Peter Bernstein.  Upon moving to New York City, he led the weekend jazz combos at Augie’s (now Smoke Jazz & Supper Club). He performed with Junior Cook, Cecil Payne, John Ore,  Big John Patton, Harold Mabern, Eddie Henderson, John Jenkins and his brothers, John and James.

Joseph’s career includes recording over 100 CD’s as leader and side-man, jazz festivals and world tours with Pharaoh Sanders, Horace Silver, Harold Mabern, McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Diana Krall, Benny Golson, George Coleman, Johnny Griffin, Lou Donaldson, Benny Green, Barry Harris, Curtis Fuller to name a few.  He is currently a member of the Pharaoh Sanders Quartet, Harold Mabern Trio, and is a founding member of the renowned One for All Quintet.  Please visit:  https://www.joefarnsworthdrums.com

         For generations, the Midwest has been a fertile ground for producing talented jazz bass players. St. Louis native Jimmy Blanton revolutionized the role of the bass during his years with the Ellington band in the 1930s. Oklahoman Oscar Pettiford co-led the first bebop group (with Dizzy Gillespie) to play on New York City's famed 52nd St. And Ron Carter, born in Michigan, redefined the role of the bass in small group jazz during his tenure with the great Miles Davis Quintet of the 1960s.

And while Bebop Generations bass player John Webber would modestly assert that he doesn't belong in the same league with legends such as Blanton, Pettiford and Carter, he is a prime example of the continuing stream of jazz musicians from the Midwest who have migrated to the jazz scene in New York -- and who help keep it going strong as the center for jazz activity in the world.  "I was actually born in St. Louis," states Webber during a conversation from his New York City apartment. "But when I was three, my parents moved to Wheaton, just outside of Chicago. That's pretty much where I grew up and first got into music."  By the time he was 10, Webber was taking lessons on bass -- but like most beginning students on the instrument, he started out on the electric bass rather than the large bulky upright. But that didn't mean he wasn't listening to jazz acoustic bass players. In fact, two legendary jazz bassists -- Ray Brown and Paul Chambers were his primary inspirations.  "The sound that Ray Brown could get out of the bass was just amazing to me," recalls Webber. "And he was so solid in his technique. And Paul Chambers had that great walking bass style, and was so great playing with Miles and Coltrane."  By the age of 15, Webber had switched to playing the upright bass. After graduating from high school, he began serving his musical apprenticeship on the Chicago jazz scene -- working his way up to performing with top local musicians such as sax players Von Freeman and Lin Halliday and pianist Jodie Christian.

"That was where I really learned how to play jazz professionally," states Webber. "There were a lot of fine musicians playing in Chicago, and it was a competitive scene, because at that time there weren't a whole ton of places to play. So you definitely had to be good to play with the top musicians."  By 1986, Webber decided it was time to make the move to the competitive New York City jazz scene. He had built a solid reputation as one of the top bass players in Chicago, and had built up some solid contacts through jobs backing touring musicians coming through Chicago.  "It worked out pretty well for me," he recalls. "I moved to New York at the end of '86, and within a few months I was working with musicians like Jimmy Scott, Lou Donaldson, Bill Hardman and Junior Cook. And I was also playing regularly with groups led by Peter Bernstein and Christopher Hollyday."

It turned out that Webber's connections with trumpeter Hardman and sax player Cook would have the most lasting impact on his career -- and the formation of Bebop Generations. Hardman, who was out of the harp bop tradition and had worked with Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, Art Blakey and Horace Silver, hosted freewheeling jam sessions at his house every week. Webber was a regular participant, and it was at one of those jams that he met drummer Joe Farnsworth and sax player Eric Alexander.  "When Joe got the leader's job at Augie's on weekends," recalls Webber, "he started asking me to play with his groups, and cecil Payne was a regular too. Eric had gone back to Chicago for awhile, but when he came back to New York, he started playing there. So that was really the roots of Bebop Generations."  Although Webber has established himself as a regular bass player with Johnny Griffin's group and records with Horace Silver and other musicians, playing with Bebop Generations -- and musicians such as Payne and Alexander -- has a special appeal.  "Cecil always comes up with some surprises whenever you play with him, plus he often plays things humorously," says Webber. "And Eric works you hard. He definitely plays with a lot of intensity. It's definitely a great band, and I want to keep working with these guys for as long as possible."

FOR BOISE JAZZ SOCIETY MEMBERS

Can’t make the Concert?

We have another "sold-out" season and a long "waiting list" for general admission concert tickets.  Please contact Mike Samball ASAP,  if you are not able to attend the upcoming concert on Sunday 29, 2018.

Spread the Word about our Free Jazz Ed Events

Please let your family, friends, and neighbors know of all the free events associated with our upcoming artists' two-day stay in Boise.  This is a great opportunity for young and old to experience the best in world-class jazz--Live!

Reserve and Non-reserved Seating Policy & Buffet Information

If you plan to arrive early, have a seat in the 365 Lounge and enjoy the music and a beverage--Sapphire Room doors open at 6 p.m. 

We have moved to a combination of reserved and non-reserved tiered membership pricings. We expect more development on the pre-concert, seating system as we approach the season opener.

Jazz Education Contribution Campaign

Thanks so much to all who have contributed in support of our vital BJS jazz education mission.  We trust that many more of you will contribute for the 2019-19 season making it possible for us to continue the Free, Boise Community Jazz Symposium and the many jazz education activities benefiting Boise State University and community jazz students.  Donors receive priority seating choices for future seasons.

Campaign for Continued Excellence

To assure the future quality and stability of the Boise Jazz Society, we are engaged in a Campaign for Continued Excellence.  Season subscribers who also contribute to this campaign at the $750 level or above receive priority seating choices for the 2019-2020 season.

Concert Sponsorship Available

Help sustain world-class jazz artistry in Boise by sponsoring one of our 6-concert subscription series for 2018-19.  A $2500 Concert Sponsorship associate's your name or company with internationally-acclaimed artists and assures that the BJS continues to bring you the very best in the world of jazz today.  Contact Mike Samball to find out more about the many benefits of contributing to the Boise Jazz Society.