Making Joy

Benjamin Boone, Frank Kissi, Bernard Ayisa, UVSL Studio, Accra

It was hot! It was the summer of 2018 in the city of Accra, about 400 miles north of the equator, and Benjamin Boone and the Ghana Jazz Collective had gathered in the UVSL recording studio — a white concrete building down one of the many dirt side roads. Even with the high-tech equipment, to get clean recordings, the studio had to turn off the air conditioning during recording sessions.

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Fresno State Jazz Festival revival is part of a larger vision for the program

Richard Giddens and the Jazz Band

It had been nearly 20 years since the last Fresno State Jazz Festival, and after a day of performances by visiting schools, the main concert began in the Fresno State Concert Hall on the evening of Nov. 29. Richard Giddens, Director of Jazz Studies for the Fresno State Department of Music directed the Fresno State […]

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Fall tradition returns with ‘Band Spectacular’ concert

Fresno State Marching Band (Photo by Cary Edmondson)

The Fresno State Jazz Orchestra, Fresno State Wind Orchestra, and Bulldog Marching Band combine for the “Band Spectacular” at 8 p.m., Monday, Nov. 19th at the Fresno State Concert Hall. The fall tradition continues as three of Fresno State’s finest ensembles unite for an evening of music both inside the Concert Hall and on the […]

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‘The Poetry of Jazz’ by Philip Levine and Benjamin Boone ranked #3 Jazz Album of the Year by Downbeat Magazine

Philip Levine, Benjamin Boone and the band in the studio

What started as a jazz project between two Fresno State colleagues has earned the respect of Downbeat Magazine readers who rank “The Poetry of Jazz” the number three Jazz Album of the Year in the 2018 Readers Poll. The poll results appeared in the December 2018 issue and praised the performance of Pulitzer-winning poet laureate […]

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Music monsters emerge for ‘Jazz-O-Ween’ concert

The Fresno State Jazz Orchestra directed by Richard Lloyd Giddens Jr. and the Fresno State Jazz Ensemble directed by Craig VonBerg will come together for a spooky night of music for the “Jazz-O-Ween” concert presented by California State University, Fresno. Event Details Time & Date: 8 p.m., Oct. 31 Place: Fresno State Concert Hall Tickets: […]

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