By CHRISTOPHER MADSEN

Victor Goines, the artistic director of jazz studies, at the recording session for Flowers for Juilli, which was released in 2004. (Photo by Peter Schaaf)

Since 2001, the Juilliard Music Division has been making every effort to incorporate its relatively new jazz program into the School's recurring events each year, many of which—up until this point—have featured only classical ensembles. Perhaps the most momentous of these undertakings was the biannual gala benefit in March 2004 titled "Classified Jazz," the finale of which brought jazz and classical students together for a performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. That event also marked the public debut of the Juilliard Jazz Quintet, which breaks new ground with a concert this month on the annual Daniel Saidenberg faculty recital series—the very first time that a jazz group has been featured. It's the most recent reminder of how far Juilliard has come as an institution in which the very mention of jazz studies used to raise eyebrows.

Daniel Saidenberg studied cello at Juilliard from 1925-30 and was an early winner of the Naumburg Competition in 1927. He served as first cellist of the Chicago Symphony, music director of Ballet Theater, and even an extra cellist on occasion with the Budapest String Quartet. In 1942 he founded the Saidenberg Little Symphony, which was the resident orchestra at the 92nd Street Y from 1948-57. Saidenberg and his wife opened an art gallery in New York in the 1950s, eventually becoming Picasso's representative in North America. The Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series was launched at Juilliard in 1991 in recognition of this generous patron of the School, who also donated his Stradivarius cello to Juilliard before he died at the age of 90 in 1997.

Pianist Marc Cary will be a guest artist for the Saidenberg recital. (Photo by Claudia Hayden)

Originally featuring the resident faculty chamber ensembles, the series grew to include solo performers. Dean Stephen Clapp, who now programs the series, and Laurie Carter, executive director of jazz studies, agreed that Juilliard's centennial year provided the ideal opportunity to feature the relatively new Juilliard Jazz Quintet, a faculty ensemble formed as an equivalent to such distinguished classical ensembles as the Juilliard String Quartet. The group's core members are Victor Goines (saxophone and artistic director of the jazz program), Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Ben Wolfe (bass), and Carl Allen (drums). The group features a somewhat rotating piano chair; joining them for this particular concert will be renowned guest pianist Marc Cary.

The Juilliard Jazz Quintet was invited to perform on a weeklong jazz cruise the month before its appearance on the Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series, and will appear at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola this coming March. "We've also played together in Vittoria, Spain at the jazz festival there in 2004 and '05," notes Goines. Their performance at Dizzy's will not be their first: a night of student and faculty ensemble performances occurred there earlier this year, in keeping with the good-natured "battle" atmosphere occasionally promoted by the club.

Carl Allen (Photo by Peter Schaaf)

But perhaps the most significant venture by the group is their current recording project, the second to date and still untitled as of this writing. (Their debut disc, Flowers for Juilli, was released in January 2004.) Among the music from this album to be included on the November 11 concert is Virginia's Waltz, by bassist Ben Wolfe. "The tune is in 3/4 with the groove going between a waltz feel and a swing feel," Wolfe explains. "The melody and countermelody are played by the trombone and tenor. This tune is in D-flat and is designed to be played with a real relaxed, groovy feeling. Virginia's Waltz is named for my mother-in-law, who passed away last Mother's Day."

Victor Goines also penned a contribution to the session. His Buhanian Swing was written, he says, "to represent the tradition of Art Blakey, and I tried to capture the shuffle feeling that he plays." Other members of the group contributed songs as well, although some have yet to be titled.

Should audiences expect to hear something radically different from what they are used to on November 11? "The concerts have all been different, and have reflected the personalities of the performers," observes Dean Clapp. Of course, one might expect this to be especially true for the jazz performance, as jazz is truly an expression of the players' personalities—and this group of performers has personality aplenty.

Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital: Juilliard Jazz Quintet Paul Hall Friday, Nov. 11, 8 p.m. Free tickets available on Oct. 28 in the Juilliard Box Office.

"Whenever we have an opportunity to perform in a recital situation, we try to play music by the faculty," says Goines. The looser atmosphere of a club gig lends itself to spontaneous inclusion of pieces from the standard jazz repertoire that all the musicians have played many times over, though they may not have rehearsed them together for that particular gig. But a formal recital allows for the rehearsal time necessary to prepare original compositions that are not part of the standard repertoire.

The Juilliard Jazz Quintet has been together for long enough to warrant an excellent performance, no matter the repertoire. Concertgoers can expect something a bit different from the usual fare at a Saidenberg concert—furthering the advancement of the ideal that jazz can occupy any lauded space held by classical music at Juilliard, and plant its roots deeper into this institution.

Christopher Madsen, who earned an artist's diploma in jazz this past May, is performance coordinator for the Jazz Studies Program.