Description:

Derrick Gardner, conductor 

Journalists and record companies began using the term “hard bop” in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel, and the blues. Prominent hard bop musicians included Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, MIles Davis, and Thelonious Monk. An influx of musical thought among hard bop musicians led to a push for the subgenre to evolve, with John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock incorporating touches of avant-garde and free jazz. Their objective was to blur the division between the written and the spontaneous, celebrating imperfect boundaries and freedom of musical expression. Join the Jazz Orchestra for an exploration of hard bop’s evolution. 

McCoy Tyner (arr. Dennis Mackrel), Passion Dance 
McCoy Tyner (arr. Dennis Mackrel), Update 
Harold Mabern, Waltzing Westward 
Harold Mabern (arr. Bill Mobley), Alex the Great 
Cedar Walton (arr. Frank Foster), Firm Roots 
McCoy Tyner (arr. Dennis Mackrel), Blues on the Corner 
George Coleman (arr. Bill Mobley), Revival 
Chick Corea (arr. Derrick Gardner), Straight Up & Down