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Bill Dobbins
From 1994 through 2002, Dobbins was principal director of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. Concert, radio, television, and tour projects under his direction included internationally acclaimed soloists such as Clark Terry, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, Gary Bartz, Kevin Mahogany, Art Farmer, Steve Lacy, Paquito D’Rivera, Mark Feldman, Clare Fischer, Peter Erskine, the Kings Singers, and Katia and Marielle Labeque. In 2002 he returned to the Eastman faculty, while continuing work as guest director with the WDR Big Band as well as with the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra in Hilversum. Advance Music publishes Dobbins’ compositions and arrangements for big band, chamber music combinations, and solo piano. Jazz education programs worldwide have adopted his volumes of transcriptions of classic jazz piano solos and jazz textbooks for use in their courses.
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Bill Dobbins/John Goldsby/Peter Erskine: Cologne
by John Kelman
First impressions can sometimes be deceiving and should sometimes be ignored; otherwise one stands the risk of missing out on something greater. The first couple of tracks on Cologne clearly have their roots in the work of Bill Evans, specifically his trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. Bassist John Goldsby's playing stands out with the same kind of high-end lyricism as LaFaro, and demonstrates a similarly playful intuitiveness. Peter Erskine, one of the few drummers on the ...
read moreMusic Education Monday: Developing a theme into a big band arrangement
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's Music Education Monday is a sort of case study in big band arranging, presented by pianist Bill Dobbins, professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. A veteran jazz educator, Dobbins first joined the Eastman faculty in 1973, and played a major role in designing the school's jazz studies program. He currently teaches jazz composing and arranging, gives applied lessons to jazz writing majors, and directs the Eastman Jazz Ensemble ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson