Jeff Rupert, director of the Jazz Studies program at UCF, believes it is critical for students to be working side-by-side with active professional musicians.

“We are bringing in guest artists who have a strong presence in the professional world, so our students can communicate and interact with them,” said Rupert. “This fall we are collaborating on repertory works with in-demand artists Harry Allen and Chuck Redd, and learning and performing new works for jazz groups, like our suite for Miles Davis and James Brown at the Florida Music Educators convention in Tampa this January.”

The fall jazz season kicked off Sept. 24 with a performance and master class by jazz vibraphonist Chuck Redd. Rupert said Redd was impressed with UCF’s students.

“Chuck Redd told me that this has got to be one of the top jazz programs in the country, and certainly the best small jazz program,” Rupert said. “Other jazz programs have several hundred students. We have forty. This is a big deal.”

Alex Lewis, a trumpet player in his senior year, was conversely enthralled with Redd. “His improvisation is beautiful. It was not only how he was playing, but how he was listening and reacting musically to whatever someone else did. That allowed the music to grow and develop.”

Lewis has been a member of the Flying Horse Big Band since his first semester at UCF, in the fall of 2012. The Big Band is the premier student jazz ensemble on campus and students audition for a seat every semester. “This band has been the defining point of my university career. It is the highest thing I could have hoped for.”

The Flying Horse Big Band has a free concert in Winter Park at the Winter Park Autumn Art festival on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.

The group will also be performing with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. in the Communications Building Auditorium on the UCF campus. Tickets for “Harry Allen plays Harry Allen with the Flying Horse Big Band” cost $10 and can be purchased in advance.

Allen has more than 30 recordings to his name and frequently tours the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His many accolades include the New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Combo Performance and Gold Disk Awards for three of his CDs. He has performed and recorded with Rosemary Clooney, John Pizzarelli, Tony Bennett, James Taylor and Ray Brown, among many others.

Ryan Wasner, a junior jazz studies major focusing on jazz guitar, says that performing with guest artists such as Redd and Allen gives the students insight into the world of jazz. This semester, he is particularly excited to be on the stage with Allen.

“We are playing music that [Allen] wrote, specifically for this concert,” he said. “These guys have a lot of experience and insight. They’ve experienced what we are trying to do. Most of the time, people in jazz are wanting to give back. It’s a social art; they want to be mentors to a younger generation.”

The Flying Horse Big Band will give its final performance of the fall semester on Dec. 4 in the Nicholson School of Communication auditorium. In addition to the Flying Horse Big Band performances, jazz enthusiasts can attend free performances by student jazz combos and ensembles in the UCF Rehearsal Hall at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 and 27, and Nov. 10, 17 and 24.

In addition, two of the university’s jazz ensembles, the Jazz Professors and The Flying Horse Big Band, are producing albums for UCF’s record label, Flying Horse Records. The record label has produced six albums and another is in the works. The most recent release by the Jazz Professors, En Plein Air, reached No. 29 on JazzWeek’s charts this summer and the Big Band’s recent release,Ěý“Into the Mystic” was listed as “Chartbound” by JazzWeek this July.

Performances at a glance:

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Sunday, October 11, 2015; 1:00 pm

The UCF Flying Horse Big Band will perform at the band shell in Central Park, Winter Park, as part of the Winter Park Art Festival.

°ä´Ç˛őłŮ:ĚýFree and open to the public

Location: Central Park, Winter Park Band Shell

407-823-1500

Ěý

Harry Allen Plays Harry Allen, with UCF’s Flying Horse Big Band

Flying Horse Big Band

Special Guest Harry Allen, tenor saxophone

Friday, October 16, 2015; 8:00 pm

°ä´Ç˛őłŮ:Ěý$10, $5 non-UCF students, free with UCF ID
Location:ĚýUCF Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert I

Tuesday, October 20, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by UCF Student Jazz Combos

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: UCF Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert II

Tuesday, October 27, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by UCF Student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: UCF Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Ensemble II Concert

Tuesday, November 10, 2015; 8:00 pm

The UCF Jazz Ensemble II presents a concert under the direction of Michael Wilkinson.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:ĚýUCF Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert III

Tuesday, November 17, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by UCF student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:ĚýUCF Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert IV

Tuesday, November 24, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by UCF student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:ĚýUCF Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Friday, December 4, 2015; 8:00 pm

°ä´Ç˛őłŮ:Ěý$10, $5 non-UCF students, free with UCF ID
Location:ĚýUCF Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Ěý

The Jazz Professors’ new album, Do That Again,Ěýhas climbed to No. 13 on the JazzWeek album chart in its third week of release. Meanwhile, The Blues is Alright, a CD of performances by UCF students, is keeping famous company among the “Most Added” albums.

Do That Again is the second album from The Jazz Professors, a group of six UCF faculty members who are also seasoned performers. Having recorded and toured with a veritable “who’s who” of the jazz realm, The Jazz Professors include director and saxophonist Jeff Rupert and Marty Morell, a former member of the Bill Evans Trio.

UCF’s student ensemble players are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kevin Eubanks, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, and Grace Kelly on JazzWeek’s “Most Added” chart. The Blues is Alright, by the UCF Jazz Ensemble I and Jazz Workshop, features three original songs as well as new and classic arrangements of several jazz standards.

Do That Again and The Blues is Alright are published by UCF Music’s label, Flying Horse Records. Both records are available for purchase. Digital downloads are available from most major online music retailers.

JazzWeek is the definitive Jazz and Smooth Jazz national radio airplay chart—a weekly report of the top 50 jazz and smooth jazz recordings played on radio stations across the United States and Canada. Radio reporters and industry subscribers receive the weekly Jazz Fax or Smooth Fax with the current chart each Friday.

The Jazz Professors: Live at the UCF-Orlando Jazz Festival features director of Jazz Studies Jeff Rupert, Per Danielsson, Marty Morrell, Richard Drexler, and Bobby Koelble.

Having performed, recorded and toured with a veritable “who’s who” of the jazz realm, these musicians contradict Mencken’s adage: “Those who can–do. Those who can’t–teach.” The performance was recorded live at the 3rd-Annual UCF-Orlando Jazz Festival on March 20, 2010, featuring a guest appearance from preeminent saxophonist Grant Stewart.

is the definitive Jazz and Smooth Jazz national radio airplay chart—a weekly report of the top 50 Jazz and Smooth Jazz recordings played on radio stations across the United States and Canada. Radio reporters and industry subscribers receive the weekly Jazz Fax or Smooth Fax with the current chart each Friday.

The Jazz Professors is the second release from UCF Music’s new label Flying Horse Records. Flying Horse Records’ previous release Jazz Town peaked at No. 43 on the chart. Find out more about The Jazz Professors CD at the Flying Horse Records website.

On April 13, 2010, the UCF Jazz Ensemble, comprised of freshmen, sophomores, and a few juniors in the emerging Jazz Studies program, recorded seven pieces with director Jeff Rupert.

The resulting collaboration, includes not only classics but also new works such as “Bad Moon” and the title track written specifically for the UCF Jazz Ensemble.

Jazz singer Vance Villastrigo joins the band on the jazz standard, “The Eternal Triangle”, arranged by Cliff Pecota and on the soul classic, “Me and Mrs. Jones”, arranged specifically for this collaboration.

Repertory works include the Fletcher Henderson arrangement of “Bugle Call Rag”, featuring several student soloists along with Allan Vaché on clarinet, whose contribution is exciting and flawless.

Thomas Potter (UCF voice faculty) joins the UCF band and Villastrigo for a remake of the James Brown classic, “It’s a Man’s World”, inspired by the James Brown/Luciano Pavarotti collaboration. “Lush Life” and “Spring Can Really Hang you Up the Most” are live performances by the UCF Jazz Professors at the internationally-acclaimed UCF Orlando Jazz Festival.

Jazz Town was professionally recorded, mixed and mastered in Orlando at Starke Lake Studios by Kendall S. Thomsen. The album is distributed by UCF Music’s new label . Packaging design and marketing materials were produced by UCF Senior Art Specialist Matthew Dunn.

Thomas Potter is an associate professor in the

Jeff M Rupert is a professor in the Department of Music, and the program director of the Department of Music Jazz