UC Berkeley Announces JIM Fund Benefit Concert

FUNDRAISING CONCERT FOR
UC BERKELEY JAZZ AND IMPROVISED MUSIC FUND

Art Lande

The Department of Music at the University of California, Berkeley presents a special fundraising concert for the Jazz and Improvised Music Fund (JIM) on Saturday, April 10, 8:00pm at Hertz Hall, Berkeley, CA. Famed improvisers Art Lande (Pianist/Drummer) and Paul McCandless (Saxophonist/Multi-Instrumentalist) will perform a program of original compositions and free improvisations, and UC Berkeley professor and pianist Myra Melford will direct the Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective debuting student arrangements and compositions. There will be a preconcert Q & A with Lande and McCandless, for ticket holders, from 7:15 – 7:45pm.

Tickets are $15 general admission; $10 students, seniors, and groups of 10+; $5 UC Berkeley students. Tickets may be purchased at Hertz Hall one hour prior to performance (7:00pm) or in advance by calling (510) 642-9988 or visiting http://tickets.berkeley.edu.

The JIM Fund, under the direction of Melford and UC Berkeley faculty member and trumpeter Christy Dana, was created by and for UC Berkeley music students. Its primary purpose is to raise money and support for studies in jazz and contemporary improvised music, especially in light of recent budget cuts. The JIM Fund strives to provide new instruments and audio equipment, to increase the number of master classes and coaching sessions with world-class musicians, along with establishing an endowment. JIM allows students to study, perform and collaborate on a variety of approaches to improvised music by creating a thriving community of musicians.

Since its founding in 2009, JIM has created the Berkeley Nu Jazz Collective, produced an innovative collaboration between improvisers in food and in music, presented a master class with the progressive Jazz supergroup Kneebody, and held concerts with world-class musicians Denny Zeitlin, Taylor Eigsti, Matt Wilson, and Mark Dresser.