Concerts featuring jazz, music of Weill on tap for UB music faculty

Music lovers are in for a treat this month as UB music faculty perform back-to-back concerts that present two very different genres of music.

First up is “Degenerate Music: Weill, Eisler and Schoenberg,” a chamber music recital that is part of UB’s contribution to the Kurt Weill Festival being presented by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. March 28 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.

The following night, the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet will present “Derrick Gardner, trumpet, with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet and Friends,” an evening of jazz featuring acclaimed trumpeter Derrick Gardner. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. March 29 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

“Degenerate Music” will feature guest violinist Kathrein Allbenberg, as well as UB faculty members Leanne Darling, viola; Tiffany Du Mouchelle, soprano; Jonathan Golove, cello; Eric Huebner, piano; Caroline Sonett, flute; and Michael Tumiel, clarinet, in a program showcasing the work of Weill, who was the leading German opera composer of his generation before he fled Nazi Germany and became a Broadway star.

The Berlin-born Allbenberg is known for bringing intimacy and fun to her performances, regardless of the genre or the venue. She has studied with Thomas Brandis, concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, and performed with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The program:

Kurt Weill: Cello Sonata (1920)

Kurt Weill: Seven Pieces from The Threepenny Opera for violin and piano (arr. Stefan Frenkel)

Hanns Eisler: Duo for violin and cello, Op. 7 (1924)

Hanns Eisler: “Vierzehn Arten den Regen zu beschreiben (14 Ways of Describing Rain),” Op. 70 for violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet and piano

Cabaret Songs by Kurt Weill and Arnold Schönberg

Schönberg: Two songs from “Brettl-Lieder” (Cabaret Songs) (1901)

“Gigerlette” (Text by Otto Julius Bierbaum)

“Galathea” (Text by Frank Wedekind)

Kurt Weill: Three Songs

“Complainte de la Seine” (Text by Maurice Magre, composed 1934)

“Youkali” from Marie Galante (Text by Roger Fernay, composed 1934)

“Wie lange noch” (Text by Walter Mehring, composed 1944)

The faculty lineup and genre will change the following night as the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet — featuring Bobby Militello, saxophone; George Caldwell, piano; Sabu Dawoud Adeyola, bass; and John Bacon, drums — join Gardner and tenor saxophonist Andrew Weinzler and trombonist John Hasselback for a program of Gardner’s work. The program includes “The Melting Pot,” “Earl’s Twirl,” “Funky Straight,” “Lazara,” “Slim Goodie” and “MacDaddy Grip,” as well as “Natural Woman” by Carol King.

A performer, bandleader and composer, Gardner is inspired by the finest hard-blowing funky bop bands of the 1960s. He quickly made his mark upon arriving on the New York jazz scene in 1991, where he began a top-flight career that has taken him around the world performing internationally with the Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Band, Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band, The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and Swiss tenor player Roman Schwaller’s European Sextet.

The Jazz Prophets, the sextet Gardner formed in 1991, continues to be the primary vehicle for his distinctive, hard-driving music.

Tickets for “Degenerate Music” and “Derrick Gardner, trumpet, with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet and Friends” are available through a variety of outlets at the following pricing structure:

UB faculty, staff, alumni, seniors and non-UB students

$10 plus $2 fee online at Ticketfly

$10 plus $4 fee by phone at 877-987-6487 (Ticketfly)

$14 in person at the Center for the Arts (noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday)

$17 in person at the door (one hour before concert time)

General public

$15 plus $2 fee online at Ticketfly

$15 plus $4 fee by phone at 877-987-6487 (Ticketfly)

$19 in person at the Center for the Arts (noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday)

$22 in person at the door (one hour before concert time)

UB students are admitted free with ID.

For a complete listing of all concerts being presented by the Department of Music, visit the department’s website.