Pacific Jazz Ensemble
Patrick Langham, director
Amina Scott, bass
Saturday, September 20, 2025
7:30 pm
Faye Spanos Concert Hall
Selections will be chosen from the following:
Basic Urge (1956–1966; 2024)
Ellis Marsalis (1891–2020)
arr. Amina Scott
I Love You (1944)
Persistence (2021)
SoupBone (1991)
Three and One (1958)
Cole Porter (1891–1964)
arr. Les Hooper
Amina Scott (b. 1994)
John Clayton (b. 1952)
Thad Jones (1923–1986)
PROGRAM NOTES
Marsalis: Basic Urge
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was born on November 14, 1934. He graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans with a Bachelor of Arts in music education, and that was the field to which he devoted himself. Despite playing with such notable jazz musicians as Cannonball and Nat Adderley, he was most proud of his work as an educator. His music students included Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Harry Connick Jr. and four of his sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason.
Porter: I Love You
Composer of dozens of works for the American musical theatre, and of hundreds of standards now canonized in what is termed the “Great American Songbook,” Cole Porter is treasured for his verbal sophistication, ribaldry, and complexity as much as for his exceptional musical gifts. Among his best-known shows are Anything Goes (1934), Kiss Me, Kate (1948), Can-Can (1953), Silk Stockings (1954), and High Society (1955), and among his wideranging songs are Begin the Beguine, Let’s Do It, Brush Up Your Shakespeare, and Yale’s Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow, wow, wow!. The song I Love You was written in 1944 for his musical Mexican Hayride.
—Masterworks Broadway
Clayton: Soupbone
Bassist, composer, arranger and producer, John Clayton is a busy man. He is a Grammy Award winner with nine additional nominations and has written and/or recorded with artists such as Milt Jackson, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, McCoy Tyner, YoYo Ma and Charles Aznavour, to name only a few.
Clayton was the principal bassist in the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (The Netherlands) 1980–1984. In 1986, he co-founded the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and rekindled The Clayton Brothers Quintet.
In addition to his individual clinics and workshops, he also directs the educational components of Centrum, The Port Townsend Jazz Festival, and the Vail Jazz Workshop.
—John Clayton
PROGRAM NOTES
Jones: Three and One
A harmonically advanced trumpeter/cornetist with a distinctive sound, as well as a talented arranger/composer, Thad Jones had a very productive career. Self-taught on trumpet, he started playing professionally with Hank Jones and Sonny Stitt when he was 16. Jones became well-known during his long period (1954–1963) with Count Basie’s Orchestra, taking a Pop Goes the Weasel chorus on April in Paris, and sharing solo duties with Joe Newman. He joined the staff of CBS, co-led a quintet with Pepper Adams, and near the end of 1965, organized a big band with drummer Mel Lewis that from February 1966 on, played Monday nights at the Village Vanguard. During the next decade the orchestra (although always a part-time affair) became famous and gave Jones an outlet for his writing. He composed one standard, A Child Is Born, along with many fine pieces including Fingers, Little Pixie, and Tiptoe.
Note Records
Patrick Langham is an experienced educator and indemand performer. As professor and director of jazz studies, Langham developed Pacific’s jazz studies degree programs.
During his time at Pacific, Langham has traveled to Spain as a visiting jazz conductor, overseen student performances in Paraguay, and directed groups at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Reno Jazz Festival, and Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
As a saxophonist, Langham has performed with distinguished jazz artists including Lewis Nash, Bob Hurst, Donald Brown, Tom Harrell, Essiet Essiet, Terell Stafford, and Louis Hayes.
Amina Scott is an exceptionally talented bassist and composer. Currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana, Scott has been a bassist for many musicians on the local music scene, as well as abroad. She has performed with artists such as Jazzmeia Horn, Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah, Don Vappie, David Murray, Johnny Vidacovich, Joanne Bracken, Nicholas Payton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Randy Brecker, Herlin Riley, and Germaine Bazzle.
Scott's debut album Where The Wild Seed Grows is out now on all platforms.
Scott serves on the faculty at Loyola University New Orleans and the University of New Orleans. She has also been a faculty member for the Lafayette Summer Music Workshop since 2022.
Pacific Jazz Ensemble is an award-winning big band in the tradition of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The ensemble performs classic big band literature and embraces the music of contemporary composers and arrangers. They have an impressive list of credentials having been invited to perform at jazz festivals around the West Coast.
Saxophones
Aimee MacDonald, alto 1
Ethan Karatov, alto 2
Leo Milano, tenor 1
Syd Zak, tenor 2
Danielle Densmore, baritone
Trumpets
Kai Hatton
Eric Luman
Alex Maldonado
Alejandro Villalobos
Trombones
William Giancaterino
Miguel Palma
Radley Rutledge
Matt Young, bass
Horn Don Parker
Rhythm Section
Mike Belasco, guitar
Kyle Saelee, bass
Victor Camacho, bass
Joe Evans, drum set
Victor Cyrus-Franklin, drum set
Faculty Coaches
Patrick Langham, program director, saxophone
Joseph Mazzaferro, associate director, trumpet
Sean Britt, guitar
Jamie Dubberly, brass
Aaron Garner, piano
Brian Kendrick, percussion
Andrew Mell, bass
Jonathan Latta, ensembles program director
Breanna Daley, ensemble librarian
Live Jazz
TAKE 5 JAZZ CLUB
Valley Brewing Co.
157 W Adams St., Stockton
THURSDAYS
7 - 9 PM
Tickets at the door:
$5 Students
$15 Seniors
$20 General Admission
Pacific.edu/MusicEvents
SEPTEMBER 4
Patrick Langham Group
SEPTEMBER 11
Joe Mazzaferro Quintet
SEPTEMBER 18
PJAM & Amina Scott
SEPTEMBER 25
Sean Britt Quartet
OCTOBER 2
Patrick Langham Group
OCTOBER 9
Joe Mazzaferro Quintet
OCTOBER 16
Sean Britt Quartet
OCTOBER 23
PJAM & Brandon Woody
OCTOBER 30
Patrick Langham Group
NOVEMBER 6
Sean Britt Quartet
NOVEMBER 13
Joe Mazzaferro Quintet
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