John Lewis La Grange Project
The John Lewis La Grange Project
John Aaron Lewis
was an American jazz pianist and composer
best known as the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet,
one of the longest running and most sucessful ensembles in
the history of jazz.
Lewis was born May 3rd, 1920 in La Grange, Illinois, and performed
until his death on March 29, 2001.
The John Lewis La Grange Project celebrates the life and work of
this musical pioneer in view of his birth in La Grange and the
inspiration his story can offer to young people in our time in
terms of artistic creativity, support for the uniquely American
creation of jazz, and the strengths of human diversity and inclusive
attitudes in our communities and artistic expressions.
The Modern Jazz Quartet
Connie Kay - drums,
John Lewis - piano
Percy Heath - bass,
Milt Jackson - vibraphone
The John Lewis La Grange Project (or JLLGP to acronym fans) is
the brainchild of trumpeter Tom Tallman, Professor of Music and Director
of Jazz Studies at College of Du Page in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
The idea first came to his attention while visiting La Grange Illinois,
the birthplace and first home of this American Jazz giant. Yet he saw
no statue, no picture, no plaque. Soon he found La Grange resident and
recovering guitarist Jack Gallagher in the trombone section of his
College of DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble, playing something which in no way
resembled a trombone at all, at all.
Finding common cause in ensuing music and fun, the JLLGP was born.
This ongoing project kicked off at the Annual Rally sponsored by
The CommUNITY Diversity Group of La Grange, on September 14th 2008 at La Grange Town Hall.
(See
http://communitydiversity.org/
for more details on the UNITY group.)
A great crowd came out Septermber 14 to show support for Unity and
Diversity in our communities, with the bonus of
support for live jazz, that uniquely American art form.
That event included a short set of John Lewis compositions by some of the JLLGP co-conspirators
performing as The John Lewis La Grange Ensemble:
Tom Tallman - trumpet
Jack Gallagher - guitar
Rich Armandi - upright bass
Setlist:
Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West
Django
Afternoon In Paris
Arrangements and Performances
One of the main goals of the John Lewis LaGrange Project is to create
new arrangements of Lewis' compositions especially for but not limited
to classic big band ensembles. A further goal is to make these arrangements
available to any big bands who would like to perform them, with a special
intent to further dissemination of Lewis' works through organizations
involved in jazz education.
Subsequent ongoing events by the core members of the JLLGP include performances
of new arrangements of Lewis' music by jazz bands at Lyons Township High School
under the direction of Mark Dahl and Huei Pan, and at College of Du Page under
the direction of Tom Tallman. Additional performances are in the works,
including other musicians from the Chicago area.
A number of big bands from educational institutions in Illinois and Iowa have
also expressed interest in performing JLLGP arrangements. If you see your
jazz ensemble in that crowd, please contact us.
Perfomance listing of pieces created in the John Lewis La Grange Project:
November 23, 2008 Sunday, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble (COD), director: Tom Tallman
"Two Bass Hit" premiere, arr. Jack Gallagher
December 9, 2008 Tuesday, LTHS Perfoming Arts Center
Lyons Township High School Jazz Ensemble, director: Mark Dahl
"Django" premiere, arr. Jack Gallagher
"Two Bass Hit" arr. Jack Gallagher
February 27, 2009 Friday, Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble (COD), director: Tom Tallman
"The Golden Striker" premiere, arr. Jack Gallagher
April 5, 2009 Sunday, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble (COD), director: Tom Tallman
"Rouge" premiere, arr. Tom Tallman
"Milano" premiere, arr. Jack Gallagher
"Two Bass Hit," "Django," "The Golden Striker" arr. Jack Gallagher
May 13, 2009 Wednesday, LTHS Perfoming Arts Center
Lyons Township High School Jazz Ensemble, director: Mark Dahl
"Rouge" arr. Tom Tallman
Lyons Township High School Jazz Lab Band, director: Mark Dahl
"Milano," "The Golden Striker" arr. Jack Gallagher
June 10, 2009 Wednesday, Hackney's in Palos Park, IL
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble (COD), director: Tom Tallman
"Rouge" arr. Tom Tallman
"Django," "Milano" arr. Jack Gallagher
In mid-summer 2009, Brass Tracks Jazz Orchestra, director Tom Fox,
played both "Two Bass Hit" and "Milano" at Hackney's in Palos Park, IL.
November 22, 2009 Sunday, McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage
DuPage Community Jazz Ensemble (COD), director: Tom Tallman
"S'il Vous Plait" premiere, arr. Jack Gallagher
"Django" arr. Jack Gallagher
"Afternoon In Paris" premiere, arr. Aaron Newman
December 8, 2009 Tuesday, LTHS Perfoming Arts Center
Lyons Township High School Jazz Ensemble, director: Mark Dahl
"S'il Vous Plait" arr. Jack Gallagher
Further events and performances will be listed here on this site.
Interested in the John Lewis La Grange Project, the arrangements and performances?
We're interested in you!
To contact the John Lewis La Grange Project, please send us some email:
johnlewislagrange@sbcglobal.net
For more background information on John Lewis, please see the article
Honoring John Lewis, a Genius of Jazz Composition, by Loren Schoenberg,
at the Juilliard Journal Online, at the Juilliard
School, Lincoln Center, New York.
Here are some resource pages we discovered listing John Lewis
compositions and other good information:
2001 NEA Jazz Master - John Lewis
Michael Furstner's JazClass, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet
All About Jazz - John Lewis biography
Two versions of the Voice of America show on John Lewis:
VOA John Lewis show at manythings.org
VOA John Lewis show at voanews.com
The John Lewis La Grange Project, begun in 2008 and still rolling...
Please support jazz in your schools and community.