I recently performed my Gil Evans Commission, Glass with the Elevenet at the IAJE Internation Convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The piece was premiered at the Opening General Session on the same bill as Tim Hagans' ASCAP commission and a performance by George Garzone. The band played great, and we received a lot of positive feedback about the performance and the piece. I think many of people in the audience were not expecting such a high level of playing from a jazz group in Denver. The excellence of the Denver jazz scene is still our little secret but maybe not for much longer as my group was followed later in the day by a performance by Denver-based Convergence. A special thanks to all the musicians (see below) who made our show a success and to IAJE for honoring me with this prestigious award. This award means a lot to me for not only the obvious reasons, but also because I have been and continue to be a student of Gil's music. The Elevenet is one of the few, if not the only, active professional band performing his music and we will continue to do so. Look for us around Colorado and soon around the world!

About the award:

Established by a grant from the Herb Alpert Foundation, this annual commission identifies an emerging jazz composer through a competitive, international field of candidates. The fellowship recipient is commissioned to compose a work in the jazz idiom for performance during the IAJE Annual Conference. The commission award is $2,500. In addition, the fellowship recipient will be provided an all-expenses-paid trip to the IAJE International Conference the year in which the work is performed. The Gil Evans Commission has been recognized as one of most prestigious in the field of jazz and has helped to launch the careers of such writers as Maria Schneider and Anthony Wilson.