On Thursday, October 23, and Friday, October 24, the Department of Music at Wayne
State will host Tenor Madness, two days of workshops, saxophones and performances
in the Old Main building (4841 Cass Avenue). Guest artists include legendary
saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi (Boston), inventor Francois Louis (Belgium), jazz artist
Emanuele Cisi (Italy), and Claudio Zolla (Italy) of Rampone and Cazzani Handmade
Saxophones. Tenor Madness workshops are free and open to the public.
Tenor Madness will culminate with a performance featuring Jerry Bergonzi and the WSU
Big Band, directed by Professor Chris Collins, and Detroit-Torino Urban Jazz Project.
The concert is Friday, October 24 at 7:30 pm at The Music Box in the Max M.
Fisher Music Center. Tickets are $20 at the DSO box office and $23.50 if ordered by
phone (313) 576-5111 or online at detroitsymphony.com. Group tickets (10 or more) are
$15 each and available only by visiting the DSO box office. Visit music.wayne.edu for
details about Tenor Madness workshops, guest artists and photos.
Tenor saxophonist, Jerry Bergonzi, is an internationally recognized jazz performer,
composer, author and educator. His music is renowned for its innovation, mastery, and
integrity. Relentless drive, inner fire, total command, awesome technique, elastic
lyricism, rich resonance, world-class, a musical visionary, are among the critical
comments about his sound and performances. Bergonzi's music has been applauded
throughout the world at festivals, concert halls, and jazz venues and his dedication to
jazz has been well documented in an extensive discography.
The Detroit-Torino Urban Jazz Project is a multi-media collaboration between Chris
Collins, WSU Director of Jazz Studies, and alto saxophonist Emanuele Cisi of Torino,
Italy. The project, supported by funding from Wayne State University, "involves creating
a composition that fuses visual and audio impressions of the [two] cultures." Focusing
on the urban experience of two post-industrial cities, Collins and Cisi, who both play
handmade saxophones built by Italy's Rampone and Cazzani Company, formed the
project as an opportunity to create new global compositions.
WSU's Jazz Big Band performs throughout the year on the Wayne State campus and
throughout metropolitan Detroit. Recent appearances have included the Jazz Club at the
Max with Joe Lovano, the 2006, 2007, and 2008 Detroit International Jazz Festival with
vocalists Diane Schuur and Kurt Elling and saxophonist Jimmy Heath, and an evening at
Orchestra Hall with Eddie Daniels. The Big Band has also performed with LA woodwind
artist Terry Harrington, drummer Bob Harsen, jazz violinist and arranger Don Palmer,
New York trumpet artist Marvin Stamm, and trumpet artist Walter White.
Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than
350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students
in metropolitan Detroit.