Media Alert: Ambrose Akinmusire at Monterey Jazz Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp
What: Monterey Jazz Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp Media Day
When: Wednesday, June 20, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: Monterey Peninsula College Music Buildings, 980 Fremont Street, Monterey
Who: 2012 MJF Artist-In-Residence Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, Camp Staff, Students
Other Details: Media representatives are invited to observe the Festival’s Summer Jazz Camp in action with a master clinic by 2012 Artist-In-Residence, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire from 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. and hear big band rehearsals. Mr. Akinmusire, camp clinicians, students, and staff of the two-week long jazz camp will be available for interviews during the student lunch break from 12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Camp Schedule:
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. / big band, combo, vocal ensemble rehearsals
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. / clinic with Ambrose Akinmusire
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. / interview opportunities
1:15 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. / big band, combo, vocal ensemble rehearsals
Ambrose Akinmusire biography
Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire was born in Oakland, California, and attended Berkeley High School and was a member of the 1999 and 2000 Monterey Jazz Festival High School All-Star Band. At 19, Steve Coleman hired Ambrose in his Five Elements band for an extensive European tour. Ambrose moved to New York City in 2000 to attend the Manhattan School of Music, performing with Lonnie Plaxico, Stefon Harris, Josh Roseman, Vijay Iyer, Charlie Persip, the Mingus Big Band, and the San Francisco Jazz Collective along the way. In 2005, he returned to the West Coast for a master’s degree at the UCLA, and simultaneously attended the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, where he studied with Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Billy Childs and Gary Grant. After graduation in 2007, Ambrose won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition in the span of one week. After performing live and making appearances on recordings with Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Alan Pasqua, Walter Smith III, Josh Roseman, Esperanza Spalding, Aaron Parks, Jimmy Heath, Jason Moran, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Jason Moran, Wallace Roney, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and more, Ambrose released When The Heart Emerges Glistening on Blue Note Records in 2011. The New York Times wrote that Ambrose’s quintet “seems destined for much wider recognition,” and named When The Heart Emerges Glistening as their top CD of the year. The Los Angeles Times said “Akinmusire sounds less like a rising star than one that was already at great heights and just waiting to be discovered.” Ambrose is Monterey’s Artist-In-Residence in 2012, and has made four appearances at Monterey since the 1990s.
More information: Contact Timothy Orr day-of-event at 510.282.8555, or email timorr@montereyjazzfestival.org