Through my position as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Connecticut, I am afforded the opportunity to rehearse the university's premier large jazz ensemble twice per week. I regularly write new material for the band, and recorded six arrangements with this group in April 2002. The resultant CD, "UConn Jazz" was released on the SeaBreeze Vista recording label and garnered favorable reviews.

In keeping with the small, selective nature of the UConn jazz studies program and the music department as a whole, the UConn Jazz Ensemble ranges from seven to twelve instrumentalists, rather than the typical seventeen-piece big band seen at most academic institutions. The comparatively small size of the ensemble makes off-campus performances practical, and facilitates instruction in improvisation and musical interaction within rehearsals.

Each semester we focus on the music of a specific composer / arranger (or professional band). Past composers have included Michael Abene, Phil Allen, Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Rob McConnell, Jim McNeely, John Mills. and Gerry Mulligan.

For the Fall 2010 semester, we will prepare "Blues & the Abstract Truth, Take 2", a reinterpretation of Oliver Nelson's beloved 1961 album from Impulse! Records.  The arrangements were written by 2010 Grammy Award Winner, Bill Cunliffe.  In the spring of 2011 we will attempt to tackle the music of Dave Rivello.