Jazz up October

The Monday Night Jazz Series on Oct. 25 at USF Tampa will have talented jazz guitarist Fred Hamilton as a guest star. Hamilton will perform alongside USF's own music students and faculty. Click Read More >> below for Jill Case's article.

For Jamie Oake's feature story on Daniel Harrison, a USF Music program alumni, click here.

Enjoy a few minutes of the music students' jazzy warm-up.  

The Monday Night Jazz Series returns with guest Fred Hamilton

By Jill Case

TAMPA, FLA. – It is almost time again for the USF Jazz Department’s Monday Night Jazz Series, happening on Oct. 25 at the recital hall FAH 101 on the Tampa campus. 

Since 1996, the department has invited experienced jazz musicians to perform with the students and faculty to help them gain some perspective on various aspects of the jazz scene.

Daniel Harrison, USF alumni, says that working with the artists “gives you a professional perspective on where you are as a performer and what to work on.”

Harrison graduated in the spring semester with his concentration in jazz studies and has participated in two previous Monday Night Jazz Series.

Bradley Esau, a senior jazz studies major, agrees with this notion.

“Working with the guest artists is important in order to learn the craft of those who paved the way for you so that you may achieve artistry,” says Esau.

Jack Wilkins, the director of Jazz Studies, runs the series, which consists of a daytime workshop and an evening concert.

“We have a really good track record of jazz studies majors moving on to successful careers in music. Much of this is due to the students’ exposure to the real world of musicians and music professionals,” says Wilkins.

Wilkins is also a jazz saxophonist, a recording artist and a composer.

“The USF Monday Night Jazz Series came into being when we decided to make the guest artist program a recurring series, the last Monday of each month,” says Wilkins.

Fred Hamilton joins the series this month as the guest artist.

In addition to being a guitarist and bassist, this improvisational artist is a composer, an author and a professor of music at the University of North Texas.

“Fred Hamilton is an amazing jazz guitarist who crosses a lot of boundaries in the types of music that he uses as influences for his own sound,” says Wilkins.

The evening’s ensemble will play some of Hamilton’s original music as well as various arrangements of some jazz classics.

Anybody is welcome to come and watch the concert. Wilkins says that the series is an inexpensive way to experience live jazz and to hear recognized recording artists for students.

Tickets for students on campus are $8 before the concert and $10 at the door. There is also an opportunity to receive a $2 coupon at the College of the Arts Box Office before the day of the concert.

Wilkins points out that these are artists that a club in New York City or Chicago would charge big money for.

“The arts at USF are really a vibrant part of campus life that get lost sometimes,” says Wilkins. “I would encourage students to come check out the music events, the art museum and student and faculty art presentations, the theater and dance concerts. I would also like to see there be an inclusion of arts events in the student activity fees so that all students can come to concerts, theater and dance productions or art gallery events for free.”