Eclipse Jazz was a student-run committee within the University Activities Center at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

. From 1975 to 1993 it operated under the auspices of the University’s Major Events Office, showcasing

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

performers and giving students hands-on experience in the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

business. Eclipse presented prominent, internationally recognized jazz artists, attracting large audiences and gaining recognition for the range of music it curated. Eclipse presented over 170 concerts over its 18 years. It also offered free educational workshops with many of its artists to help the audience understand and appreciate the music. These achievements brought Ann Arbor to national importance in the jazz community.

Beginnings

For its first concert on November 2, 1975, Eclipse Jazz presented

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

, the pianist from the

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Quartet, who returned to Eclipse in 1985 for its 10th Anniversary concert.

1978 festival

In September 1978, Eclipse Jazz presented its first festival over four days at Ann Arbor's largest concert hall, U-M's 4100-seat

Hill Auditorium Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847–1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He beque ...

. Dedicated to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

, the festival featured

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

, a commissioned work from

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

premiered by the

Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death. Biography Early life and education Elli ...

Orchestra,

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

and

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

and the

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

Arkestra.

Featured musicians

In addition to the artists already named, Eclipse presented

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936 – October 17, 2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist, organist, and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she gained acclaim for her jazz opera ''Escalator ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

(included in the 1978 Columbia recording, An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert);

Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is an American brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen incorporated funk and bebop into the traditional D ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

, Bob James,

Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy Award and received 13 nominations. Biography At the age of six, Klugh commenced training on the piano until he switched to the guitar ...

Steve Lacy Steve Thomas Lacy-Moya (born May 23, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. He gained recognition as the guitarist of the alternative R&B band the Internet, which he joined in 2015. His self-produced debut EP, '' ...

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

Old and New Dreams Old and New Dreams was an American jazz group that was active from 1976 to 1987. The group was composed of tenor saxophone player Dewey Redman (doubling on musette), bassist Charlie Haden, trumpeter Don Cherry and drummer Ed Blackwell. All of th ...

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon a ...

and the

World Saxophone Quartet The World Saxophone Quartet was an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music. The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...

. When he came out of retirement in 1981, Eclipse presented trumpeter

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

, his only university stop in a handful of tour dates. Eclipse Jazz opened its concert seasons with broadly recognized artists, booking more experimental music later in each series. Commercially viable artists (e.g.

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

) generated profits to subsidize performers who were less well-known, such as the

Art Ensemble of Chicago The Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz group that grew out of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, AACM) in the late 1960s. The ensemble integrates many jaz ...

. This exposed audiences to

that was new to them, thereby increasing their knowledge of the art form.

Bright Moments

Beginning in 1977, Eclipse hosted a series of smaller shows called Bright Moments (dedicated to the memory of

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove Music Online''. ''Grove Dictionary of M ...

), which presented

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz, experimental jazz, or "new thing") is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through the late 1 ...

in intimate settings including the University of Michigan Residential College and the University Club in the

Michigan Union The Michigan Union is a student union at the University of Michigan. It is located at the intersection of South State Street and South University Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The building was built in 1917 and is one of several unions at the ...

. Many members of the Chicago-based

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is an American nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AA ...

were featured including

Roscoe Mitchell Roscoe Mitchell (born August 3, 1940) is an American composer, jazz instrumentalist, and educator, known for being "a technically superb – if idiosyncratic – saxophonist". ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' described him as "one of the key figure ...

and

Famoudou Don Moye Donald Moye, Jr. (born May 23, 1946), known as Famoudou Don Moye, is an American jazz percussionist and drummer. He is most known for his involvement with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and is noted for his mastery of African and Caribbean percuss ...

as well as

free funk Free-funk is a combination of avant-garde jazz with funk music that developed in the 1970s. Leaders of the genre include Ornette Coleman and his Prime Time group, Ronald Shannon Jackson and his group Decoding Society, Jamaaladeen Tacuma and hi ...

drummer/composer

Ronald Shannon Jackson Ronald Shannon Jackson (January 12, 1940 – October 19, 2013) was an American jazz drummer from Fort Worth, Texas. A pioneer of avant-garde jazz, free funk, and jazz fusion, he appeared on over 50 albums as a bandleader, sideman, arranger, and ...

and reed men

Oliver Lake Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American List of jazz saxophonists, jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano saxophone, soprano and flute. D ...

and

Julius Hemphill Julius Arthur Hemphill (January 24, 1938 – April 2, 1995) was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone, less often on soprano and tenor saxophones and flute. Biography Hemphill was born in Fort Worth, Texas, ...

Grant funding

Eclipse Jazz received four grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

to underwrite its programming. They helped pave the way for the expansion of activities and venues including lectures and films, sound engineering classes, a free coffeehouse series called "Java and Jazz", jam sessions and free outdoor summer concerts during the award-winning Ann Arbor Art Fairs. The Art Fair concerts were broadcast live on Eclipse’s principal media partner, WCBN-FM 88.3 Ann Arbor.

40th anniversary commemoration

On April 18, 2016, the 40th anniversary of Eclipse Jazz was marked by the

Ann Arbor District Library The Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) is a public library system that serves the residents of the Ann Arbor, Michigan school district. The Downtown Library, located at 343 South Fifth Avenue, was dedicated in 1957 and had building additions in 1 ...

with "Eclipse Jazz: 40 Years On", a 90-minute panel discussion which brought together and featured 16 past members of the Eclipse organization from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ann Arbor and Venice, Florida.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Eclipse Jazz: 40 Years On
(audio) Jazz organizations University of Michigan Music of Ann Arbor, Michigan University of Michigan student organizations