32nd Annual Jazz Festival
Thursday - Saturday April 8-10, 2010
Guest Artists
Adam Rapa
Adam Rapa is a dynamic performer, composer, and educator who has become widely known for the excitement, energy, and enthusiasm he brings to stages and classrooms around the world. Rapa has shared the stage and/or recorded with Grammy Award winners Nicholas Payton and Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Doc Severinsen, Mnozil Brass, Soulive, The New Life Jazz Orchestra, Wycliffe Gordon, Eric Reed, Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Cyrus Chestnut, Academy Award winning composer A.R. Rahman, and many other great artists over the years. He appeared as a featured guest artist at both the 2007 and 2008 National Trumpet Competition and also at the 2008 International Trumpet Guild conference. Since 2001, he’s been starring in the Tony and Emmy Award winning Broadway show, “Blast!” and several other productions by the same company, performing well over a thousand shows thus far, across North America, Japan and the United Kingdom. In both Japan and the United States, his first solo album, “Life on the Road” has received critical acclaim as well, for its vast musical diversity, virtuosity and soul.
Mike Tucker
Mike Tucker has performed as a leader and a sideman all over the world. In 2002, he competed as a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in Washington, D.C., and soon after attended Berklee College of Music where his career got a jump start. The Mike Tucker Quartet has been invited to perform at jazz festivals around the world including the Phoenix Jazz Festival in Nagoya, Japan, The Nancy Jazz Festival in Lortraine, France, The Emerging Artists of the 21st Century concert series in San Jose, Costa Rica, and closer to home at the Kennedy Center, and The JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. Tucker has also appeared on several nationally syndicated jazz radio shows including: Toast of the Nation on NPR, Voice of America, and on XM Satellite Radio Jazz and Beyond. In addition to many engagements with his own group, Tucker has performed with George Garzone, Joe Lovano, Melvin Sparks, The Motet, George Duke, Christian Scott, among many others. Tucker is currently based in Boston, leads his own quartet, and is a member of the Esperanza Spaulding Quintet, The New Life Jazz Orchestra, The Toni Lynn Washington Band, The Robin Mcelle Group, and the Alex Terrier Group.
Bill Carrothers
Bill Carrothers has been a professional pianist for 30 years. He has played many venues throughout the United States and Europe including the Village Gate, Knitting Factory, Birdland, Blues Alley, New Morning in Paris, the Aydi Jazz Festival in Brussels, the Nevers Jazz Festival where he shared the bill with Abbey Lincoln, the Montreal Jazz Festival, Jazz Middelheim, and the Marcaic Festival in France. In October 2000, Carrothers headlined the prestigious Rising Star Tour throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and more recently, headlined a week with his trio at the famed Village Vanguard in New York City. He has been a leader on 17 recordings, all of which have received critical acclaim. His sideman credits include some of the greatest names in jazz including Scott Coley, Buddy DeFrancesco, Dave Douglas, Curtis Fuller, Eric Gravatt, Drew Gress, Tim Hagans, Billy Higgins, Ari Hoenig, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Gary Peacock, Dewey Redman, Charlie Rouse, James Spalding, Bill Stewart, Ben Street, Ira Sullivan, Toots Thielmans, and Benny Wallace.
Jeff Rinear
Upon graduating from the Berklee College of Music with a degree in performance on trombone, Jeff Rinear freelanced in a wide variety of musical settings, including numerous extended engagements, for four years. After a touring stint with the Artie Shaw Orchestra he settled in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where he has backed up the likes of Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, the Temptations, Natalie Cole, and Kenny Rogers, just to mention a few. He is one of the busiest trombonists in the Twin Cities. Jeff is the CEO of Increase Music, Inc., a publishing company specializing in jazz and educational materials. He has published some of his own compositions with them and has written and arranged pieces in a variety of musical genres. Jeff also holds a bachelor of music in music education from the University of Minnesota. He taught at the high school level for six years before accepting a position at MusicTech College in St. Paul, MN. In addition, he is the jazz ensemble director at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Jeff is sought after as a guest artist and has appeared at nearly one hundred clinics, festivals, and camps.
