Division of Jazz Studies

Noel Johnston, alumnus and adjunct instructor in jazz guitar, has published a new book, Voicing Modes. It's available from Noel's site and at amazon.

Little "D" Town, the new CD by the Latin Jazz Lab, directed by José Aponte, is now available in the College of Music online store.

Lab 2016 is available for purchase.

Photo by Craig Marshall

The schedule of performances in the University Union Syndicate is available now.

Los Angeles, California - July 12th, 2016 - UNT Jazz Studies alumni Dave Richards (M.Mus 2009) and Brett McDonald (B.Mus 2010) returned from China last month from a tour of the musical My Fair Lady.

The tour took McDonald and Richards to seven major cities in China over a period of two months: Shanghai, Xiamen, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu and Beijing.

Richard’s writing and playing can be heard on Lab 2009, Live at Blues Alley, Lab 2008, Lab 2007, Lab 2006 and Lab 2005. A multi-instrumentalist, Richards performed on Trumpet for My Fair Lady, but is heard on lead trombone on Lab 2009.

Also a multi-instrumentalist, McDonald can be heard performing on Alto and Soprano saxophones on Under the Radar by the Two O’Clock Lab Band but played Clarinet, Bass Clarinet and Flute on My Fair Lady.

Richards and McDonald have previously toured together on the 2013 international tour of Dreamgirls, which took them across the USA, Canada and 5 weeks in Japan.

In regards to traveling overseas, McDonald says “It is amazing to me how small the musical world really is. I was able to meet English speakers in nearly every city we visited who either played music as well, or could direct us to jam sessions with expats and English speaking Chinese”.

Date: Tuesday, July 5
Location: Dan’s Silverleaf
Address: 103 Industrial St, Denton, TX 76201
Times: 5:00pm- 7:00pm
Door: $3.00

Congratulations to Professor Ed Soph on being inducted into the Percussive Arts Society's Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to alumni Tom "Bones" Malone, Dan Higgins, and Marvin Stamm for receiving lifetime achievement awards at the American Federation of Musicians national meeting in Las Vegas on June 19, 2016.

We mourn the passing of Thomas Nokes, a master's student in trombone performance who played trombone in lab bands in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

His obituary was published in his hometown newspaper in Bangor, Maine on May 20:

DEXTER AND DENTON, TX – Thomas Nokes, 26, died unexpectedly May 15, 2016 in Denton, Texas. He was born on April 30, 1990 in Dover-Foxcroft, and spent his youth in Dexter, where he graduated from Dexter Regional High School as his class’s salutatorian.

Musically talented from a young age (and gifted with perfect pitch), he began studying the trombone at the age of ten. He subsequently completed bachelor’s degrees in Music Performance and Education at the University of Maine, where he studied the trombone and held leadership roles in the university symphonic band, jazz ensemble and orchestra. In addition to his exemplary musicianship, Thomas was an accomplished student, graduating summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda. After completing his undergraduate education, he enrolled in the graduate performance program at the University of North Texas, where he participated in the wind studies and jazz lab band programs, minoring in music theory.