INFORMATION FOR
Saxophonist Chris Potter, one of today’s major saxophone voices, joins the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra as guest soloist in a concert as part of the University’s spring 2025 Jazz Room series on Sunday, March 9, 2025. The concert begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus.
The Jazz Room, William Paterson University’s long-running performance series, will feature a wide variety of today’s most exciting jazz musicians during the spring 2025 season. Upcoming performances include saxophonist and vocalist Camille Thurman on April 6; Chico Alvarez with the William Paterson Latin Jazz Ensemble on April 13; the Christian McBride-Bill Charlap Duo on April 27; and vocalist Will Downing on May 9.
The concert will be preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Shea Recital Hall.
A world-class soloist, composer, and bandleader, Potter first gained wide recognition as a member of Dave Holland’s sextet, as well as for collaborations with Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Ray Brown, James Moody, Joe Lovano, many tours with the rock group Steely Dan, and many others. His early musical association was with trumpeter and Charlie Parker veteran Red Rodney. Potter is most often heard in small-group settings, and this is a rare chance to hear him solo in front of the 18-member WP Jazz Orchestra, in a concert featuring premieres of new arrangements of three of his compositions by the University’s second-year graduate students in jazz arranging.
Tickets are $20 for the general public, $18 for WP faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, $10 for non-WP students, and WP students are admitted free. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University’s Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
