An Evening with Jimmy Knepper
and The American Jazz Institute Big Band

Saturday, January 19, 8:00pm

Admission Free
Pickford Auditorium
CMC campus, Claremont

With its musically diverse offerings, the Spring concert season at Claremont McKenna College promises to deliver plenty of surprises. New works essential to the growth of jazz as well as fresh arrangements of classic compositions will be performed by world-famed guest soloists and the AJI's repertory ensembles of renowned West Coast jazz artists. We look forward to your joining us at these outstanding campus concerts.

Jimmy Knepper is a singular voice on his instrument. Few trombonists in the history of jazz have such an individual, identifiable sound. Born in Los Angeles in 1927, Knepper started studying trombone at the age of nine and began his professional career at fifteen. Knepper first appears on recordings made in 1949 with Roy Porter's big band. After that, he worked with a number of big bands, including Charlie Barnet, Claude Thornhill and Stan Kenton. Wider exposure came through his work with Charles Mingus in the late 1950s. Knepper also performed and recorded with Gil Evans and the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

The list of artists Jimmy Knepper has performed and recorded with is staggering. It includes Steve Lacy, Benny Goodman, Lee Konitz, Kenny Burrell, Max Roach, Yusef Lateef, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Eric Dolphy, Pepper Adams, John La Porta, Shorty Rogers, Charlie Parker, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Miles Davis.

As a leader, Knepper has made numerous brilliant small group recordings. A Swinging Introduction to Jimmy Knepper (Bethlehem), 1st Place (Blackhawk), Jimmy Knepper in L.A. (Inner City), Just Friends (Hep), Primrose Path (Hep), Cunningbird (Steeplechase), Dream Dancing (Criss Cross) and The Jimmy Knepper Songbook (Focus) are examples of his playing and compositional prowess.