www.cascadeheadmusic.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT Laura Doyle laura_doyle@charter.net 994-9330

COKER SEES JAZZ AS POWERFUL LANGUAGE

“Jazz is one of the most powerful languages of the contemporary musical world. It signifies a body of work that has been accumulating for more than a hundred years with contributions from some of the finest musicians of the last thousand years.”

That’s Keller Coker talking about the type of music he and others will be presenting at the Cascade Head Music Festival May 30 to June 1 in Lincoln City at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 N.E. Highway 101. Coker, an associate professor of music at Western Oregon University, is music director of this year’s festival, now in its twenty-second year. A weekend of classical music will be performed June 12 to June 15.

Even though he plays jazz, Coker values classical music too and will act as music director of both halves of the festival. “Western European art music and jazz are very similar at their cores,” he says. “Most great composers were also great improvisers, and many were great performers as well. The biggest difference is style. Composers and performers of both styles use very similar notation, music theory, instruments, and melodic and harmonic languages. Whether you are performing the music of Josquin, Monteverdi, Haydn, Chopin, Brahms, Armstrong, Stravinsky, Davis, Cage, Coltrane, Adams, or Metheny, you need to work though the same process.”

Joining Coker in performance will be several colleagues and students from Western Oregon. “The Festival provides a fantastic opportunity for anyone who is asked to participate,” he continues. “Its reputation is exemplary; it has been presenting performances of the highest quality for more than 20 years.”

Coker began performing more than thirty years ago. He started playing trombone at the age of fourteen and immediately took to performing as a jazz and classical trombone player. “None of my excitement or joy has diminished over the years,” he says.

His focus turned to jazz and popular styles in the 1980s and he has worked with such notable ensembles as The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Platters, America, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and The Kingsmen. He has performed with pop musicians Jose Feliciano, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, and Bobby Vinton. (The list of other jazz notables he lists on his resume are too numerous to mention in this story.)

Coker received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Jazz Studies, and a Doctor of Musical Arts (Early Music Performance)—all from the University of Southern California.

In 1990, while teaching and performing jazz at USC, Coker became associated with legendary lutenist James Tyler, and became interested in early music. His collaborations with Tyler, coupled with his improvisational approach to the repertories of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music has gained him a reputation as an important performer of music from these periods. Since 1990, he has produced several recordings on various labels.

He joined the faculty at WOU in 2000. He teaches music history and directs the Western Hemisphere Orchestra and the Early Music Consort.

He looks forward to playing in Lincoln City. “Everyone in an audience brings his or her own set of expectations to every musical event. I just hope that I can interact to those expectations in a positive way over the course of these concerts.”

Concludes Coker: “In today’s world, music is everywhere—in our cars, elevators, lobbies, homes, offices, and on our computers. In the early days of recording, many composers and performers feared that recorded music would eventually eliminate the need for live music. Participation in the Cascade Head Music Festival as an audience members or a performer is just one way to see that those old predictions do not come true.”

Tickets may be purchased on-line at www.cascadeheadmusic.org , by mail at P.O. Box 605, Lincoln City, Oregon 97367, or by leaving a phone message at 994-5333. Prices for the jazz series are: $60 reserved, $45 general admission (three performance package); $25 reserved, $20 general admission (single performance). The classical series tickets cost $60 reserved, $45 general admission (three performances); $25 reserved, $20 general admission (single).

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