LMU0005 - Jazz Lab Band
Course Description
The Jazz Lab Band is a small jazz combo that performs a standard, professional jazz repertoire. Students practice improvisation and work on small group performance techniques. Each semester, the band produces a recording in a professional studio and performs a live concert in the Harper Performing Arts Center. Open to instrumentalists and vocalists at all levels. No audition is required, but please obtain the consent of the Instructor, Lenard Simpson, prior to registering. Call 847.925.6403 or email him at ls37814@harpercollege.edu.
Notes
Ages 15+
If you're a first time student seeking to take private lessons, please click here and fill out the First Time Student Form. You'll hear from us within 24 hours.
All private lessons are held at Harper College's main campus or online.
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If the name of your instructor doesn't appear in the list below, please contact us at cmac@harpercollege.edu and request a section to be created for you.
Originally hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lenard Simpson’s well-earned reputation as “quickly becoming one of the most important saxophonists of this generation” (Kiefer) has secured him a spot as a rising star among his contemporaries. From his early days in Milwaukee as a self-taught beginner, to formal studies at Northern Illinois University (B.M., jazz performance) and UCLA’s Herbie Hancock Institute (M.M., music performance jazz), Simpson’s natural ability and outstanding musicianship have been recognized by some of the most celebrated jazz musicians and pedagogues across the world, including Herbie Handcock, Christian McBride, Wayne Shorter, and many more. An active, in-demand performer, composer, arranger, and educator, Simpson “is trusted and called upon by some of the highest-level musicians anywhere” (Kendall Moore) due to his strong collaborative musicianship, unique sound marked by “profound soulfulness combined with a sparkling intelligence and curiosity” (Billy Childs), and compassionate and individualized approach to teaching. As a band Leader, Simpson’s quartet has played at the major jazz festivals in the midwest and recently released an album entitled New Beginnings. Simpson’s work as an in-demand sideman has included performances both local and abroad with Billy Childs, Kurt Elling, Marquis Hill, Kiefer, Knower, Sara Gazarek, Clayton Cameron and Brian Lynch. As an Educator, Simpson teaches at the Milwaukee Institute of Jazz, he served as an adjunct saxophone professor at Northern Illinois University. and has taught masterclasses for international Jazz Day in Melbourne, Australia, at the Sitka Jazz Festival in Sitka, Alaska. Additionally, Simpson has taught at the Birch Creek Jazz camp, Northern Illinois Jazz camp, and the UCLA Global Jazz camp.