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Campus: CSU Los Angeles -- March 01, 2002
Recording by Cal State L.A. Faculty Members is Featured in
Grammy Award-Nominated Compact Disc
"America's Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Volume 5"-featuring
a live recording of David Amram's Ode to Lord Buckley by Cal State L.A.'s
professor of music Jeff Benedict on saxophone-was nominated for a Grammy
Award in the classical music category. Produced for Arizona University
Recordings, the composition was performed with piano accompaniment by
Cal State L.A.'s music faculty member Twyla Meyer.
Pasadena resident Jeff Benedict, founding member of the Orion Saxophone
Quartet, holds a B.M. and an M.A. from the Lamont School of Music and
a D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student
of Harvey Pittel. He has been the winner of four "deebee" awards
from Downbeat magazine, one each for Classical Performance and Jazz Composition,
and two for Jazz Performance. He is in demand as a classical soloist,
and has premiered new works for the saxophone including the world premiere
of Peter Terry's Into Light for saxophone, chamber orchestra and computer-generated
tape, and the mid-west premiere of Ode to Lord Buckley for saxophone and
orchestra. As a member of the ensemble, he has performed with the Aspen
Festival Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group.
His credits as a jazz performer include appearances with Toshiko Akiyoshi,
Randy Brecker, Nick Brignola, Eddie Daniels, Carl Fontana, Curtis Fuller,
Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Hubert Laws, Wynton Marsalis, Bob Mintzer,
Claudio Roditi, Diane Schuur, Lew Soloff, Billy Taylor, Mel Torme, Bill
Watrous, Mark Whitfield and Joe Williams. He has been on the faculty at
Cal State L.A. since 1989, where he is currently the saxophone instructor
and director of jazz studies. He has released two jazz albums on the Resurgent
Music record label: "Castle Creek Shuffle" and "Standard
Fare." |