WMU

Billy Hart always wants to learn more about music, even though he's been performing professionally since the 1950s, beginning with R&B acts like Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, while being mentored by jazz leaders Shirley Horn and Buck Hill. Originally from Washington, DC, Hart moved to New York in 1968 and became a fixture in a scene that included McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, and Joe Zawinul. Hart has performed as a sideman and a leader on over 600 albums, and continues to record, with his own quartet and with big band projects. 

Hart talks about some of his experiences and lessons learned over the years, as he previews his performance on Western Michigan University's Jazz Masters Series with fellow musicians Keith Hall (professor of jazz drums) and Tom Knific (professor of bass).

Western Michigan University President Edward Montgomery says his first 14 months on the job has been hectic, but “a great hectic.”

Ron Nelson's celebration of the Colorado landscape, Aspen Jubilee, Holst's First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, plus works by up-and-coming Michigan composers Andrew David Perkins and Paul Dooley are on the program for Sunday at 3 pm in Miller Auditorium, when the newly-named University Wind Symphony (formerly “Symphonic Band”) performs its first concert of the season.  Dr. Scott Boerma, director of bands at Western, tells Cara Lieurance about the newly formed ensemble as they preview the music.

The producer of a film about a family’s dealing with mental illness says it focuses on the caregiver’s side of story. Coming Up For Air will be released next year. But scenes will be shown at an event next week in Kalamazoo.

Pianist Matthew Fries, bassist Phil Palombi, and drummer Keith Hall have performed together as Tri-Fi for over 15 years and recorded five albums. Tri-Fi will appear in concert in the Dalton Center Recital Hall on Wednesday, Oct 3 at 7:30 pm on the Bullock Performance Institute Series at WMU, but first, they showcase their chemistry in conversation with Cara Lieurance at WMUK.