UT Dallas to present jazz trombonist John Fedchock

Fedchock will perform the first half of the concert with the UT Dallas Jazz Ensemble, a big band made up of UT Dallas students. Big band numbers will include Fedchock’s compositions of A Drop in the Bucket, Easy Goin', Blues over Easy, Bossa Rio, Midnight Passage and Skylight. The second half will feature Fedchock with guest artists Bobby Breaux, Carl Hillman, Rodney Booth, Karl Lampman, and Kelly Durbin.

The UT Dallas Jazz Ensemble is directed by UT Dallas faculty member Kelly Durbin. Its repertoire draws from music throughout the history of jazz ranging from artists such as The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and Weather Report. Trombonist, bandleader and arranger, Fedchock is considered one of New York City’s premier jazz artists. The John Fedchock New York Big Band showcases Fedchock’s trombone playing and arranging, as well as the band’s all-star soloists.

The band has recorded four critically acclaimed CDs for Reservoir Music, “New York Big Band,” “On The Edge,” “No Nonsense” and “Up & Running.” Two of these, “New York Big Band” and “On The Edge,” earned four-and-a-half star reviews in DOWNBEAT magazine, and were listed in DOWNBEAT’s “Best CDs of the 90’s.” For his arranging on “No Nonsense,” Fedchock was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award for “Best Instrumental Arrangement.” The John Fedchock New York Big Band’s 2007 release, “Up & Running,” spent eight weeks in jazz radio’s Top Ten.
Fedchock began his career as a jazz trombonist with the legendary Woody Herman Orchestra in 1980. He toured with Herman’s “Thundering Herd” for seven years as musical director and featured soloist. He served as musical coordinator and chief arranger in the production of Herman’s last two Grammy-nominated albums, “50th Anniversary Tour” and “Woody’s Gold Star.”

Fedchock has toured with T.S. Monk, Gerry Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band, Louie Bellson’s Big Band, the Bob Belden Ensemble, the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. As a solo artist, he appears throughout the United States and has toured abroad as a guest trombonist/composer/conductor. The University Theatre is located near Drive C in the center of the UT Dallas campus, 800 W. Campbell, Richardson. For more information, visit www.utdallas.edu/ah/events/