PianoFest trio plays its
way into ULV
Campus Times
March 15, 2002
"Encore! Encore!" "Play one more!" Those were the
words that the audience was shouting after the PianoFest Concert last Friday
night at the University of La Verne in Founders Auditorium.
ULV Professor of Music and Department Chairman Reed Gratz joined forces
Friday night with Professor of Bass and Music Business Andrew Ford and Professor
of Drums Bob Dominguez to form a magnificent jazz trio.
With Gratz on the piano, Ford playing the guitar and Dominguez on drums,
the trio combined to give the audience a perfect evening to remember.
"It was an excellent concert. We had a good turn out," said
Steven Biondo, music assistant and technician of the music department. "I
think jazz trio is the most pure form of jazz."
No matter what age group, Gratz, Ford and Dominguez attracted an audience
who had an actual appreciation for good music.
"I really appreciated and enjoyed hearing my professors play together,"
said senior music major Jasmine Effner. "It was great to listen to
Reed Gratz's compositions and I really, liked the piece 'View From the South.'
It was the best."
Gratz has taught at Washington State University, University of Miami,
Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands and is a visiting professor of music
at Claremont McKenna College. He has also been awarded numerous grants such
as the jazz composition grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and
a research grant in African American music by the National Endowment for
the Humanities, to name a few.
As a pianist and keyboardist, Gratz has collaborated with famous musicians
such as Herb Alpert, George Russell and William Nijholt.
Gratz composed every song performed that evening, except for two, for
which Duke Ellington and Keith Jarrett were the original composers. He credits
many great jazz musicians to be his inspiration.
He says everyone from Ellington to the musicians he performs with are
his influences.
"I'm influenced by so many great jazz masters like Duke Ellington
and other greats," Gratz said. "But I've studied classical music
as well. I have love for European classical; I listen to everything. Everything
I listen to I'm influenced by, even the people I play with I am influenced
by. I'm constantly learning from the people I play with."
Ford, a ULV graduate, has worked with talents worldwide including Gladys
Knight, David Crosby and Whitney Houston.
Dominguez performs regularly with the Riverside Civic Theater and in
Palm Springs. He has worked on the faculties of ULV, Redlands, UC Riverside
and other southern California universities. His musical resume consists
of having played with John Patitucci, Russell Ferrante and Frank Sinatra.
To cap off the evening, Gratz's son, Ian, provided the leading vocals
to collaborate with his father and Ford's 12-year-old son, Aaron, who stepped
in for Dominguez on drums, to perform Gratz's final toe-tapping composition
of the night, "It Doesn't Take a Masters."
"I had a good time. I was pleased to see so many people because
with a La Verne event, you never know," Gratz said. "I hope we
can get back this audience next time, not just for my concerts, but for
all department events. This is just one of many concert series."
The next concert will be a free faculty recital with Rachel Vetter on
violin and Hao Huang on piano, at 8:00 p.m., tonight in Founders Auditorium.
For further information call the Music Department office at ext. 4917.