Yale University Bands Thomas C. Duffy, Director presents
Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band Wayne Escoffery, Music Director
Wednesday, November 4, 2026, at 7:30 pm ~ Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Appointment in Ghana (1959)
Jackie McLean
Going Somewhere (2016) James Burton III
Grand Street (1958) Sonny Rollins arr. Michael Philip Mossman Wayne Escoffery – tenor saxophone
He’s Younger Than You Are (1966) Sonny Rollins arr. Michael Philip Mossman Arnav Travers – tenor saxophone
No More Blues (Chega de Saudade) (1957) Antônio Carlos Jobim Original lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes English lyrics by John Hendricks and Jessie Cavanaugh Elaina Stuppler – vocals
Tones for Joan’s Bones (1966) Chick Corea arr. Duke Pearson William Farmer – trumpet
GG Train (1959) Charles Mingus Upcoming Yale Bands Performances 2026-27 s Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. Yale Wind Ensemble, Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Feat. Eighth Blackbird, guest artists - Vital Sines (Viet Cuong), Wine-Dark Sea (John Mackey), Huapanguera (Omar Arellano Osorio), Overture to “Candide” (Leonard Bernstein). Woolsey Hall. Free admission/No tickets or reservations required. s December 4, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. “Side by Side: The Nutcracker Swings!” Yale Wind Ensemble (Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director) and Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band (Wayne Escoffery, Music Director) share the stage, with the YWE performing the traditional classical arrangement (by Mayhew L. Lake) of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and the YJEBB answering movements with Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn’s jazzy interpretation of this holiday classic. Woolsey Hall. Tickets $15 ($10 students). Scan code at right for tickets >> s February 19, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. Yale Wind Ensemble, Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. Feat. Scott Hartman, trombone - Concerto for Trombone and Orchestral Winds & Percussion (Steve Bryant), Lincolnshire Posy (Percy Grainger), Zig Zag (Julia Wolf ). Woolsey Hall. Free admission/No tickets or reservations required. s March 4, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band, Wayne Escoffery, Music Director. Program TBA. Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. Free admission/No tickets or reservations required. s April 16, 2027 at 7:30 p.m. Yale Wind Ensemble, Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director. The Thomas C. Duffy Annual Spring Concert. Sinfonía Nómada (Arturo Márquez), Emblems (Aaron Copland), Envoi (Daron Hagen). Woolsey Hall. Free admission/No tickets or reservations required. s April 20, 2027 at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. at Dizzy’s Club, New York, NY. Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band. Wayne Escoffery, Music Director. Info/Tickets: Scan code at right or visit https://jazz.org/dizzys/ s May 23, 2027 at 7:00 p.m. Yale Wind Ensemble, Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director, Annual Twilight Concert, Celebratory music and Yale songs on Yale’s Commencement eve (chairs provided). Yale’s Old Campus. Free admission/No tickets or reservations required.
About the Music Director Wayne Escoffery is a 2014 and 2021 DownBeat Critics Poll Winner for both the Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, and a Grammy Award-winning musician. He is currently one of the musical directors of The Mingus Big Band, leads his group The Wayne Escoffery Quartet, and is the founder of Black Art Jazz Collective. He is considered one of the Jazz world’s most talented saxophonists and in-demand sidemen. Originally from London, England, Wayne grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, which is where his love for Jazz and formal study of music began. As a high-school student and an undergraduate at The Hartt School, Escoffery studied under the mentorship of Saxophone legend Jackie McLean and was among the second class of students at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at The New England Conservatory, from which he received a Master’s degree in Music. In 2006 he secured one of the most coveted gigs in jazz: a frontline position in Tom Harrell’s working quintet. For over a decade, Escoffery was mostly associated with the trumpet master, having toured the globe with him, recording seven CDs with The Tom Harrell Quintet, and co-producing four of those releases. Escoffery has been a member of The Mingus Dynasty, Big Band, and Orchestra since 2000, and has made several recordings with the group. Over the years, he has recorded and performed internationally with a who’s-who in Jazz, including Ron Carter, Ben Riley, Abdulah Ibrahim, Eric Reed, Carl Allen, Al Foster, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Rufus Reid, Wallace Roney, Randy Brecker, and Herbie Hancock just to name a few. Escoffery leads his own groups which tour internationally and has made several highly acclaimed studio recordings with said groups. His current working quartet features pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr., who has taken over for the late, great Ralph Peterson Jr. The band’s most recent albums, The Humble Warrior and Like Minds, on the Smoke Sessions Records label have gotten rave reviews and both received 4 stars in DownBeat Magazine. Escoffery’s newest album, Alone, released in August of 2024, reflects on love, loss, and solitude, and features a remarkable All-Star Quartet with Gerald Clayton, Ron Carter, and Carl Allen. The stunning new album is an atmospheric and haunting mood piece that has received 5 stars in the London Times, 4 stars in Jazzwise Magazine and 4 stars in DownBeat Magazine. Critics have called this album the best of 2024 so far and said it’s Wayne Escoffery at his finest. Escoffery is also a founding member of a collaborative group Black Art Jazz Collective which is comprised of fellow rising star musicians of his generation and is dedicated to celebrating the origins of Jazz and African American Icons through originally composed music. In addition to performing, Escoffery is dedicated to music education and presents lectures and masterclasses on Jazz music. He is currently the saxophone instructor for The New Jersey Performing Arts Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens program and teaches private online and in person lessons for all instruments. In Fall 2016, Wayne Escoffery was appointed Lecturer of Jazz Improvisation and ensemble coach at the Yale School of Music and is now the director of Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Saxophone instructor as a part of Yale University’s Jazz Initiative, the first of its kind for the University. The vast array of contributions Wayne Escoffery has made to the Jazz world in such a short time leads seasoned industry professionals like Niel Tesser to write “Pay special attention to tenor man Wayne Escoffery whose rapid development – from album to album (and seemingly solo to solo) – has given us a jazz hero for the coming decade.”
Yale Jazz Ensembles Big Band 2026-2027
Wayne Escoffery, Music Director Stephanie Hubbard, Operations and Productions Manager Alto Saxophones Solomon Geleta MC ’28 History and Human Rights Aidan Rutman DC ’30 Music/Film and Media Studies Tenor Saxophones Arnav Travers SM ’29 Math and Philosophy/Music Carter Lynn BF ’30 Undeclared Baritone Saxophone Joshua Alarcon SY ’30 Computing and the Arts Trumpets Jared Wyetzner PC ’27 Physics Victor Herrera SM ’28 Economics Leo Craig BR ’28 Environmental Engineering William Farmer MC ’30 Linguistics
Trombones Jacob Lebroda ES ’27 Cognitive Science Elaina Stuppler MY ’30 Music Collier Alexander-Sawyer PC ’30 Psychology Joshua Gabrielson TC ’28 Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Guitar Yiannis Scotiniadis MY ’28, Physics/Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Piano Hari Viswanathan BF ’28 Applied Mathematics Bass Sara Agrawal BF ’29 History/English Drums Christopher Palazzo SY ’27 Mechanical Engineering
Yale University Bands, P.O. Box 209048, New Haven, CT 06520-9048 | phone (203) 432-4111 | stephanie.hubbard@yale.edu | https://bands.yale.edu