NEA Jazz Master Phil Woods

The Jazz Showcase in Chicago will present NEA Jazz Master Phil Woods with small and large ensembles. First Woods will be performing with his quintet on October 22nd through October 24th, and then he will be recording a live CD with the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble on October 25th and 26th. 

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Philip Wells Woods has devoted himself to the alto saxophone since the age of 12. As a teenager, he briefly took private lessons in improvisation from Lennie Tristano and also studied for a summer at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1948, he enrolled in the Juilliard School, where he remained through 1952, majoring in clarinet performance. While at Juilliard, he played for a brief period in Charlie Barnet's dance band. Subsequently, he worked with leaders including George Wallington (replacing Jackie McLean), Kenny Dorham, and Friedrich Gulda and then, joining with one of his musical idols, traveled to the Near East and South America with Dizzy Gillespie.

By now established as one of the most brilliant alto saxophonists in jazz, Woods went on to perform in Buddy Rich's quintet and toured Europe with Quincy Jones (1959- 60) and the U.S.S.R. with Benny Goodman (1962). From 1964 to 1967, Woods took a summer break from the bandstand, teaching at the Ramblerny performing arts camp in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, still much in demand, he performed in New York in 1967 both as the leader of his own quartet (featuring Hal Galper, Richard Davis, and Dottie Dodgion) and as a member of Clark Terry's big band.

In 1968, Woods moved to France and formed the European Rhythm Machine quartet, with George Gruntz on keyboards, Henri Texier on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. His talent as a composer blossomed during this period, when he wrote music for Danish and Belgian radio and composed a ballet for French television. After disbanding the quartet in 1972, Woods returned to the United States, settled in Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, and formed a jazz group with Mike Melillo, Steve Gilmore, and Bill Goodwin. With this ensemble, he staked his claim to being the finest alto saxophonist in mainstream jazz, a reputation confirmed by his performances on Images (1975, with Michel Legrand), Live from the Showboat (1976), and Billy Joel's 1977 hit recording, "Just the Way You Are," all of which received Grammy Awards.

In 1975, he received an NEA Music grant that he used to compose the work "The Sun Suite," one of more than 200 songs Woods has composed. He has recorded several albums with new arrangements of famous composers -- such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tadd Dameron, Quincy Jones, and Henry Mancini -- and in 2006 released a well-received album of standards, American Songbook. He remains active internationally as a bandleader, composer-arranger, and soloist. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2007.

This annual recording project by the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble features student, faculty, and commissioned works. These recordings have produced a number of awards from the Jazz Educator's Journal, Down Beat, and JazzTimes magazines. A forthcoming DVD/CD features DePaul Jazz Ensemble concert performances from 2005 at Chicago's Jazz Showcase with guest soloist Slide Hampton, and a summer concert tour of Italy. The Jazz Ensemble has recorded a number of CD's with legendary jazz artists, including Phil Woods (who recordded with the ensemble in 2004), Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, Tom Harrell, Louie Bellson, Frank Wess, and Bobby Shew, as well as Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Charles Vernon and John Bruce Yeh.

The DePaul University Jazz Ensemble is one of thirteen student jazz groups at DePaul, performing several times throughout the academic year both on and off campus. The band performs regularly at Chicago's premier jazz club, Joe and Wayne Segal's Jazz Showcase. Since Bob Lark's appointment as Jazz Studies Chair and director of the Jazz Ensemble, the band has appeared at the Midwest Clinic (2004, 1998, & 1994), the International Association for Jazz Education Conference, the Duke Ellington International Conference, the National Association of Music Merchants Conference, the Jazz Party At Sea aboard the S.S. Norwegian Sun, twice aboard the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner for their Annual Floating Jazz Festival, and a concert tour of Italy.

The Jazz Showcase is now located at Dearborn Station, 809 S. Plymouth Court in Chicago. Check the Jazz Showcase website for updated information at www.jazzshowcase.com or call (312) 360-0234.