[JPL] [Fwd: Harvard U. Announces 2008 Arts Medalist]

[Eric Jackson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Harvard U. Announces 2008 Arts Medalist
Date: 	Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:06:14 -0500
From: 	Sara Cohen <scohen at cohenpr.com>
To: 	Sara Cohen <scohen at cohenpr.com>



*JAZZ SAXOPHONIST JOSHUA REDMAN ’91 TO BE AWARDED 2008 HARVARD ARTS MEDAL
*
      Cambridge, MA (March 10, 2008)--In conjunction with Harvard’s ARTS
FIRST festival (May 1-4), Joshua Redman ’91—Grammy nominated
saxophonist, recording artist and jazz bandleader—will receive the 2008
Harvard Arts Medal, presented by President Drew Gilpin Faust. Mr. Redman
will be the 14th distinguished Harvard or Radcliffe alum or faculty
member to receive this accolade for excellence in the arts and
contributions to education and the public good through arts. Past
medalists have included composer John Adams ’69, MA ’72, (2007), cellist
Yo-Yo Ma ’76 (2004), filmmaker Mira Nair ’79 (2003), and director Peter
Sellars ’80 (2001).

The son of tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff,
Joshua Redman grew up in Berkeley, California, where he was exposed to a
world of artistic influences including Indonesian gamelan, Indian raga,
South Indian drumming, and African dance. As Redman describes his
inspirations, “I feel like those sounds are there. They've always been
there, kind of a part of my musical perspective; the way my ears are
tuned to harmony and to melody.” In his most recent release /Back East/
(Nonesuch, 2007), he explores those multi-cultural roots through the
language of jazz in works by Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Wayne
Shorter.

Beginning his freshman year at Harvard, Redman was lead saxophone
soloist with the Big Band and smaller Jazz Combos. Director of Harvard
Bands Tom Everett recalls Joshua’s vision, dedication, and exceptional
ability to learn from a great variety of music. Though he played in the
Big Band, Everett could see the young tenor saxophonist thrived in small
combos. “He was a born improviser,” notes the director. During his
sophomore year, Redman participated in a jazz band tour to the Dominican
Republic. On that tour, Everett recalls one particular concert in which
Redman played a solo to the Duke Ellington classic, /In a Sentimental
Mood/, “He incorporated source influences and improvised with pure
emotion unlike any player I’d ever heard. And, when he finished, the
room was silent.”

The Harvard Bands also provided Redman with opportunities to learn from
and perform with jazz legends Benny Carter, Joe Henderson, and Illinois
Jacquet. “It was a coincidence that all of these great artists all
happened to be saxophonists, but what luck for Joshua,” says Tom
Everett. Mr. Redman values highly the experiences that he has had
playing with master musicians. He affirms, “Those experiences have been
invaluable to me. They’re definitive, life-changing experiences and it’s
because of those opportunities that I wanted to learn how to play and
pursue a life in music.”

In 1991, Joshua Redman graduated from Harvard summa cum laude, Phi Beta
Kappa with a B.A. in Social Studies. He was accepted to Yale Law School,
but requested a year deferment and moved to New York City, where he
began to perform regularly. In November 1991, he won first place in the
highly competitive Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Since
then, shifting his focus to a career in music, he has performed around
the world and released numerous recordings including the Grammy
nominated, /Joshua Redman/ (Warner Bros. 1993) and /Momentum /(Nonesuch
2005).

For more information on the Harvard Arts Medal, ARTS FIRST, and related
events, please visit the Office for the Arts website at
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/arts  or call (617)495-8676.
# # # # #

*Media contact:
*Sara Cohen, Cohen Communications
tel: 617-776-3939    mobile: 617-281-9825
email: scohen at cohenpr.com