The Jazz Program is designed to provide the opportunity for in-depth study in the area of jazz. The goal of TPS Jazz program is for students to gain knowledge of Jazz through listening, performing, experimenting, learning history, and observing live performances by guest artists. Through these studies students will thoroughly understand the cultural and artistic relevance of the jazz genre in general, and the role of jazz music in American history and culture. Past guest artists have included internationally acclaimed artists such as: Adam Larson, Philip Dizack, Brian Lynch, Pete Zimmer, David Hazeltine, Matt Mitchell, Dave King, John Raymond, Colin Stranahan, Emmet Cohen, Tom Rainey, Hobby Horse (Italy), Adam O’Farrill, Juli Wood, and Jeremy Pelt.
Jazz at Prairie
Jazz Day
Thursday, January 30th, 2025
9:00AM-3:30PM
TPS Jazz Day is a non-competitive all-day educational music festival for Middle and High School ensembles to celebrate and cultivate their unique musical talents, develop their creativity, and learn more about this truly American art form.
- Performances by Middle and High School ensembles
- Workshops led by music professionals on topics such as jazz history and improvisation
- More information on the day to come!
Questions?
Contact Jamie Breiwick Prairie Instrumental Music Teacher at (262) 752-2500
Jazz Night
May 16th
5:30PM
Jazz night will take place on the Front Lawn at 5:30PM, where you can expect great music and food!
Questions?
Contact Jamie Breiwick Prairie Instrumental Music Teacher at (262) 752-2500
Visiting Artists Series
At Prairie, we enrich our students' musical experience through our Visiting Artist Series, where professional musicians perform for our community. These dynamic performances expose students to a variety of musical styles and artistry, fostering a deeper appreciation for music. By connecting with talented professionals, our students are inspired to explore their own creativity and passion for the arts, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere within our school.
2024 - 2025 Visiting Artists
Joe Fielder
Wednesday, October 9th
About Joe
A Pittsburgh native and a New Yorker since 1993, Fiedler studied at Allegheny College and the University of Pittsburgh before launching into work as an in-demand sideman. He’s become one of the first-call trombonists in the world, featured on more than 100 recordings. He’s had extensive experience in the heart of the flowering big band scene, playing with Maria Schneider, Chico O’Farrill, the Mingus Big Band, Andrew Hill, Jason Lindner, Dafnis Prieto, Kenny Wheeler, Satoko Fujii, Miguel Zenón and many more. In smaller units he’s played with Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Myra Melford, Bobby Previte, David Weiss’s Endangered Species and a host of others. Fiedler also paid years of dues on the salsa and Latin circuit with Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Willie Colon, Ralph Irizarry and other major acts. His pop credits include Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Wyclef Jean, The Four Tops, Melba Moore and Lesley Gore, to name a few.
Zacc Harris
Friday, November 22
About Zacc
Since moving to Minneapolis in 2005, Zacc Harris has gained a reputation as one of the area’s top guitarists, being named 2017 Twin Cities Best Jazz Artist by the City Pages. He performs in a host of creative projects including Atlantis Quartet, winner of the 2015 McKnight Fellowship and named 2011 Best Jazz Artist, as well as the Zacc Harris Group, American Reverie, and Zacc Harris Trio.
Harris has toured as leader and sideman throughout the US and UK, including a 2016 run with Zacc Harris Group at London’s famed Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Jazz Improv Magazine says, “Harris delivers a sound that is lucid, clear…providing rich-sounding accompaniment, and well-crafted solos” while Cadence Magazine calls some of Harris’ work with Atlantis Quartet “worthy of John McLaughlin.” MPR News states, “Harris makes his own mark on standards with enough new hooks to keep jazz alive.”
Twin Talk
Tuesday, December 17
About Twin Talk
Since forming in 2012, Chicago’s Twin Talk has steadily drifted from the conventions of the saxophone trio. Saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, bassist-singer Katie Ernst, and drummer Andrew Green have spent their time on the band stage together making their music elastic, spontaneous, and open, embracing new inspirations without stifling the improvisational heart of their work. While all three musicians are active members in the city’s bustling jazz community, each playing in numerous working bands, they’ve found a true collective voice as Twin Talk. They use live performances as opportunities to stretch—expanding on composed material and ditching set lists in favor of calling tunes on the fly.
On their upcoming album Twin Talk Live, the trio blur the boundaries between near-telepathic collective improvisation and highly composed songs, resulting in a studio album with all the viscerality of their live shows. Twin Talk Live releases September 27, 2024 on Shifting Paradigm Records.
Mark Davis
Thursday, January 30
About Mark Davis & the Milwaukee Jazz Institute
Mark Davis is an accomplished jazz pianist who resides in Milwaukee, WI. Over the past 35 years, he has performed with countless luminaries of the jazz scene. Mark is available to perform in concert halls, at clubs, festivals, schools, corporate functions, private parties, and for events of all kinds. He performs both solo and as the leader of various groups.
Mark is also an influential music educator who is the co-founder and artistic director of the Milwaukee Jazz Institute and the jazz piano instructor at Northern Illinois University. Mark is available for in-person lessons, online lessons, improvisation workshops, and lecture demonstrations in jazz history.
Stephen Harvey
Monday, April 21
About Stephen
Stephen Philip Harvey (1992) is an African American saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator.
As a musician and bandleader, Stephen has performed throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions of the United States. He leads his ensembles with a drive to explore a vast array of avenues in improvisation and composition.These ensembles include his chordless trio SPH+2, his electric quintet, Sphinx, his mid-sized jazz combo, the Stephen Philip Harvey Octet (SPH8), and his large ensemble the Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra (SPHJO).
He has seven full album releases under his belt: Suite Childhood (2016, Self-Released) his jazz orchestra album, Smash! (2022, Next Level an imprint of Outside In Music), octet release Elemental (2023), eponymous quintet release, Sphinx (2023), debut trio release Library Card (2024), Elemental (Live) [2024], and Live at Radio Artifact (2024). The latter five recordings were released on Harvey’s label Hidden Cinema Records.
Hanami
TBA
About Hanami
The band Hanami, an unusual melding of electric guitar, saxophone/ clarinet, bass clarinet, and drums, will release their sophomore album, The Only Way to Float Free, on April 22nd 2016. The work is a homage to band members’ pasts in Japan as well as their present in Chicago; it’s jazz without certain signifiers of jazz, infused instead with rock & roll, unexplored spaces, and the idea of water. They’ll be taking the album on the road in April, and premiering a short film to promote one of the tracks on April 22nd 2016.
When guitarist Andrew Trim and multi-reedist Mai Sugimoto came together in 2011 to raise funds for the victims of Japan’s Tohoku tsunami, it was intended to be a one-off concert. But the concert turned into band “Hanami,” (named for the Japanese custom of experiencing the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms), and the band recorded a debut album (modern jazz takes on traditional Japanese songs), and the wheels were set in motion for something much larger than the initial concept. While Trim and Sugimoto, both of whom lived in Japan as children, were reluctant to record many more Japanese songs for fear of being branded a cover band, dreams of that country still swim through this latest album, which is all originals except for a cover of the 1901 song “Kojo no Tsuki,” or “The Moon over the Ruined Castle” – a piece also recorded in 1967 under the title “Japanese Folk Song” by pianist Thelonious Monk.