Westchester County lies just north of New York City and is home to a great number of extraordinary jazz musicians. The sixteen-piece Westchester Jazz Orchestra, heralded as “one of the most incredible jazz orchestras in the entire country” by JazzImprovNY, was created to showcase these professionals in their home county.
WJO, a nonprofit organization, performed its first concert at the Irvington Town Hall Theater on October 14, 2003. Now launching our eighth season, we have performed over 30 season concerts and dozens of others around the County. We have also provided inspiration and instruction to hundreds of local jazz students.
The Orchestra was founded by Emily Tabin, WJO’s Executive Director, and two musicians who left the band in 2004 and 2007 respectively. Mike Holober has been artistic director and conductor since January 2007.
WJO attained national recognition during 2007-08 with the release of our debut CD, All In. Containing eight WJO-commissioned arrangements, All In made multiple “Best CDs” lists and was a “Top CD” of WBGO-FM, the major jazz radio station for the New York metropolitan area, for 6 months. Reviewers in leading jazz publications praise WJO as “setting a standard in big band modern jazz” and “hugely impressive” while lauding the CD as “an expertly woven and thrilling collection” and “endlessly compelling.”
All In was among the most frequently played jazz CDs in the nation from January through April 2008. The CD peaked at #4 during a 13-week run on the JazzWeek chart, which tracks radio airplay in the US and Canada, and placed #50 in JazzWeek’s Top 100 Jazz CDs of 2008.
Our annual season concerts are theme-based and feature world premieres of WJO- commissioned arrangements. With well over 130 such new arrangements in our book, we are making a significant contribution to the development of big band jazz. We have created fresh and modern takes on the compositions of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, George Gershwin, Horace Silver, Joe Henderson and John Scofield. Our commissions also include arrangements of works by more contemporary composers including Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, the Beatles and Paul Simon, as well as by Latin and Brazilian masters.
Last season , we commissioned and premiered our first original work, "Flow: In Celebration of the Hudson River," a three-movement suite composed by Mike Holober. Our thanks go to NYSCA for funding the creation of this beautiful and moving piece.
WBGO Music Program Director and Morning Show Host Gary Walker hosts our concerts. Guest artists have included John Scofield, John Patitucci, Houston Person, Janis Siegel, Kate McGarry, Dick Oatts, Nicole Pasternak and Loryn Altsher.
Our advisory board members are trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist Joe Lovano, pianist/composer Jim McNeely, bassist John Patitucci, saxophonist Houston Person, bassist Rufus Reid as well as Gary Walker.
In our education programs, we conduct multi-day residencies and one-day workshops at high schools across Westchester. We have also adjudicated, taught and performed at multi-school jazz festivals and brought financially disadvantaged youth their first live jazz concerts. Last year we conducted our first workshop for teachers, a highly successful venture that we will offer again during 2010-11. We are also working to develop a program for elementary school students designed to encourage more girls to take up jazz instruments.
“Do something for yourself – catch ‘em live,” says Gary Walker. “It’s the art and passion of jazz at its finest.”
