An Evening with John La Porta
and The American Jazz Institute Big Band

Wednesday, April 11, 6:45pm • Admission Free
Cook Athenaeum, CMC campus, Claremont

John La Porta's...cool tone and very advanced style (influenced by Lennie Tristano) seemed to be making him the Lee Konitz of the clarinet. He played with the big bands of Bob Chester (1942-44) and Woody Herman (1944-46) but more importantly recorded with Tristano in 1947. La Porta studied with Tristano and six years later was part of the Jazz Composers Workshop with Charles Mingus and Teo Macero, seeking to bring elements of classical music into jazz. La Porta recorded with Mingus in 1954...La Porta led sessions for Debut, Fantasy and Everest during the years 1954-58.

-- Scott Yanow

In addition to his career as a performer, John La Porta has taught during six decades, most notably at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He is the author of numerous educational texts.

Some highlights of his performing and recording career include clarinet soloist on Igor Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto recorded for the Everest record label. La Porta participated in the 1957 Brandeis Music Festival, an important event in the development of the Third Stream, a school of thought bringing the classical and jazz worlds together musically. John La Porta has recorded with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Ray Brown, Lennie Tristano, Buddy Rich, Fats Navarro and many others.

"An Evening with John La Porta" features AJI's twenty-piece Big Band, a repertory orchestra of West Coast jazz artists renowned as soloists and ensemble musicians.