Acclaimed jazz musician Burton to give master classes, perform with student ensembles

James Burton III, who’s quickly earning a reputation as one of the most sought-after performers and educators within the jazz community, will return to SUNY Fredonia to conduct two master classes and perform with two student ensembles on Friday, March 22.

"We're excited to have James on campus! He's an incredible musician who has performed with jazz legends including Illinois Jacquet, James Moody, Frank Wess, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Ron Carter, along with so many others,” said Adjunct Lecturer Elliot Scozzaro. “He will provide invaluable insight about performing and touring as a professional jazz musician to our students and the general public through these master classes and performances.”

Mr. Burton, who last visited the campus in 2019, will discuss his wide-ranging expertise and perform original compositions and arrangements both on- and off-campus with members of the Fredonia Jazz Faculty Collective, the Downbeat-Award winning Fredonia Jazz Flextet and the Fredonia Blue Note Combo.

Jazz improvisation is the focus of the first master class in Mason Hall Room 1080 at 11 a.m. The second session, on composition and arrangement, will be held in Mason Hall Room 2019 at 4 p.m. Burton will perform with the Fredonia Jazz Flextet and the Fredonia Blue Note Combo at Rosch Recital Hall at 8 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.
Funding support for Burton’s campus visit has been furnished by the Carnahan Jackson Fund for the Humanities through the Fredonia College Foundation.

Mr. Scozzaro describes Burton as an extremely gifted composer and arranger who’s written for many different settings, including a group he co-leads called the Uptown Jazz Tentet that’s based in New York City. Burton will discuss his process and the intricacies of the compositions and arrangements he will be performing with the students at the Friday concert in Rosch.

Jazz luminaries that include Jackie McLean, Curtis Fuller and Steve Davis have mentored Burton, who has lent his sound to GRAMMY award-winning albums and Tony Award-winning Broadway productions. He’s performed with the Ray Charles Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Village Vanguard Orchestra, Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band, Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra and Roy Hargrove Big Band.

An avid educator, Burton was a full-time instructor at the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, as well as the director of jazz education at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Burton has served as trombonist/associate conductor for the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Star Orchestra in the Tony Award-winning production “After Midnight,” and played trombone/tuba in the pit orchestra of Broadway’s “Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed.”

Currently, Burton’s writing and playing can be heard alongside bandmates Jeremy Pelt and Wayne Escoffery in a critically acclaimed new ensemble, Black Art Jazz Collective. The band’s latest release on the High Note label, “Armor of Pride,” reached No. 1 on the Jazz Week charts, tied with the posthumously released John Coltrane recording “Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album.”

Audiences are still raving over his amazing musicianship from his 2019 visit. Scozzaro noted. “We’re thrilled he’s coming back.”

Burton will also perform with the Fredonia Jazz Faculty Collective on Thursday, March 21, at Domus Fare in Fredonia.