Electric bassist Maurizio Rolli to perform Jaco Pastorius Tribute with Jazz Ensemble Fri., April 8

Electric bassist Maurizio Rolli to perform Jaco Pastorius Tribute with Jazz Ensemble Fri., April 8

The College of Wooster’s Jazz Ensemble, joined by electric bassist Maurizio Rolli, will perform Fri., April 8, 8:15 p.m., at McGaw Chapel, 340 E. University Street.

“A Tribute to Jaco Pastorius,” features the compositions and style of one of the genre’s greatest players and composers. Pastorius, who died in 1987, was famous for intricate solos, and innovative use of harmonics to extend the higher range of the bass.

Italian arranger and bassist Maurizio Rolli, who teaches at several conservatories in Pescara, Italy, has received awards for his interpretation and performance of Pastorius’ music. He directs Rolli’s Tones Big Band, which recorded “Moodswings, a tribute to the music of Jaco Pastorius,” a CD that received high acclaim from Bass Player magazine and Jazzit magazine.In 2009, the Jaco Pastorius family invited Rolli to perform at the “Jaco Pastorius Birthday Bash.”

A composer and arranger who works with the Metropole orchestra, Rolli received the Jazzit Music Award as Italy’s Best Arranger of the Year. His composition “Dialoghi” is featured in Bassics magazine’s CD with M. Manring, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, and others.

The concert will include Pastorius’ "Soul Intro," “Continuum,” “Three Views of a Secret,” “Liberty City,” and “Havona”; a composition by Maurizio Rolli, “D-Jaco,” “Donna Lee” by Charlie Parker, “Birdland” by Joe Zawinul, and “The Chicken” by A. J. Ellis.

Tickets are $5 and are available at Buehler’s (Milltown and Towne Market), The Wooster Book Company, Lowry Center Wilson Bookstore on campus, and at the door of the concert. Tickets are complimentary for College of Wooster students, faculty and staff.