Claremont McKenna College and the American Jazz Institute will present its First Annual Faculty Jazz Series at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, featuring Reed Gratz, a professor of music at the University of La Verne and visiting professor of music at CMC (20th Century Jazz Culture). Gratz, also on the Advisory Board of the American Jazz Institute, will be performing with the Reed Gratz Quintet in the Mary Pickford Auditorium on campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Quintet members include: Reed Gratz, (electric piano), Matthew von Doran, guitar, Andrew Ford, bass, Steven Biondo, percussionist, and Michael Bennett, drums.
Gratz, who has chaired the music department at ULV for 17 years, earned his graduate degrees from New England Conservatory and the University of Miami. He has taught at Washington State University, the University of Miami, the University of Innsbruck, and the Utrecht Conservatory and Leiden University in the Netherlands.
He has been awarded a jazz composition grant by the NEA; a research grant in African-American music by the NEH; two Senior Fulbright Lectureships one at the University of Innsbruck, the other, the Walt Whitman Distinguished Chair of American Culture Studies at Leiden University; and the Excellence in Teaching Award at the University of La Verne. Additionally, he has composed music for 12 plays and several films. Recently released CDs are Below Sealevel and Piano, View From the South. A new CD album, The Reed Gratz Band featuring Michael O'Neil, will soon be available.