Cutting-edge Jazz Ensemble to Perform at UA’s Ferguson Theatre

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  — The New York-based contemporary jazz group The Thirteenth Assembly will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, in the Ferguson Center Theatre at The University of Alabama.

UA’s New College and Creative Campus are presenting the event.

In addition to the evening concert, members of Thirteenth Assembly will talk with University students at 3:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Theatre. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, go to www.creativecampus.ua.edu or phone 205/348-7884.

The quartet features guitarist Mary Halvorson, violist Jessica Pavone, cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum and drummer Tomas Fujiwara.

In performances, Thirteenth Assembly produces a sound that’s a mix of “the classic R&B and soul revues of the 1960s” and “a post-modern traveling circus.” Overall, this combination of musical forms creates an outstanding listening experience.

Sample tracks, press clippings and images are available to download at http://drop.io/ouwcl30.

“This is a group with an admirably relaxed sense of self and a shared conviction to keep all options open,” wrote Nate Chinen in The New York Times in March 2009.

Brooklyn based guitarist Mary Halvorson, a graduate of Wesleyan University and the New School, has traversed the New York City music scene since 2002. Her most recent album, “Saturn Sings,” has taken modern jazz listeners by storm.

Having toured recently with saxophone legend Anthony Braxton, cornet player Taylor Ho Bynum has established a reputation as a performer, composer and bandleader and has collaborated with such greats as Cecil Taylor and Bill Dixon.

Drummer Tomas Fujiwara, who recently released an album titled “Actionspeak,” has toured extensively around the world, including in the Middle East as part of “The Rhythm Road,” a U.S. State Department and Lincoln Center music collaboration.

Violist Jessica Pavone has led or performed in several bands and ensembles and is the recipient of numerous composition-related commissions, including one from the Aaron Copland Recording Fund.

Under the auspices of UA’s Office of Academic Affairs, Creative Campus is a collaborative system connecting students, faculty and community to nurture innovative thinkers who “turn ideas into action.”

Creative Campus seeks to serve as a hub of collaboration and creative activity at The University of Alabama. At the heart of Creative Campus is the undergraduate and graduate intern program.  For more information on Creative Campus, visit www.creativecampus.ua.edu.

New College is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.