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Rick Roe

Rick Roe won First Place in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition in 1994, was twice a Semifinalist in Thelonius Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, in 1993 and 1999, and has been a featured performer in the Jacksonville (Florida) Jazz, Savannah (Georgia) Onstage International Arts, Montreaux/ Detroit Jazz, Birmingham Jazz, Lansing Jazz, Flint Jazz, and Hawaii Jazz (with Frank Morgan) Festivals.

Mr. Roe has served as an educator/clinician at the University of Arizona, North Texas University, Michigan State University, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the University of Michigan, and the Montreaux/ Detroit Jazz Festival. He has given performances with Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, Rodney Whitaker, Frank Foster, Andrew Speight, Wycliffe Gordon, Gerald Cleaver, Victor Goines, Louis Smith, Randy Gelispie, Vincent York, Wendall Harrison, Dwight Adams, and many others. His recordings include "The Changeover" (1997), "Monk's Modern Music" (1995), and "Sphere" (2005).


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6
Album Review

Randy Napoleon: The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill

Read "The Door is Open: The Music of Gregg Hill" reviewed by Paul Rauch


In and around the formidable jazz studies program at Michigan State University is a plethora of jazz talent devoted to instrumental and compositional excellence. Most of this talent is young, benefiting from a wide array of world-class instructors that includes program director Rodney Whitaker and veteran guitarist Randy Napoleon, among other notables. Within this labyrinth of jazz wisdom in the Detroit / Lansing metroplex is composer Gregg Hill, a former truck driver and tech entrepreneur whose performing ambitions were superseded ...

5
Album Review

Rodney Whitaker with the Christ Church Cranbrook Choir: Cranbrook Christmas Jazz

Read "Cranbrook Christmas Jazz" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Bassist Rodney Whitaker has been a huge presence in Michigan jazz for decades, with his leadership of the Michigan State University jazz program complementing his many other projects and giving him the opportunity to mentor upcoming generations of jazz talent. He has become a crucial ambassador for the music as well, with community outreach being a critical aspect of his mission. One of his most essential endeavors has been his status since 2015 as Artist in Residence at Christ Church ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Cranbrook Christmas...

Origin Records
2021

buy

Sphere

Unknown Records
2005

buy

The Lost Tune

From: The Door is Open: The Music of...
By Rick Roe

Andy's Lament

From: Puppets: The Music of Gregg Hill
By Rick Roe

In the Bleak Midwinter

From: Cranbrook Christmas Jazz
By Rick Roe

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