Wiliam Paterson University Fall 2026 Jazz Room Series
Trombonist Vincent Gardner kicks off William Paterson University's 2026 Jazz Room Series this weekend.
Tickets are now on sale for the Fall 2026 Jazz Room Series of William Paterson University in Wayne. Each show is at 3:00 p.m. with a 2:00 artist meet-and-greet. And what a lineup it is! Held at the school’s Shea Center for the Performing Arts, it kicks off this weekend on Sunday, September 20, with trombonist Vincent Gardner, who, for the last 20 years, has been a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
On September 27, a Miles Davis Centennial Celebration will feature Todd Coolman’s New York All-Star Nonet with sax man Vincent Herring, ‘bone man Steve Davis, pianist Helen Sung, drummer Kenny Washington and four other top-flight Manhattan jazzers who will be keying in on Miles’s historic Birth Of The Cool album (recorded in 1949 but not released until 1957). (Coolman spent 26 years with Newark’s own James Moody.)
On October 11, The Bill Charlap, Christian McBride, Kenny Washington Super Trio will hold court. Pianist Charlap oversees Jazz Studies at the University. McBride is the Super Hero bassist from Montclair, and Washington is everybody’s favorite go-to beat-keeper. All three are Grammy winners.
On November 1, Carl Allen’s Messengers of Jazz will present alumni from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, which, from 1955 to 1990, was an amazing proving ground for over 150 prominent jazz musicians. Drummer Allen has garnered alto sax man Big Chief Donald Harrison, tenor sax man Chris Lewis, trumpeter Brian Lynch, pianist Benny Green and bassist Dezron Douglas, all of whom served time as a Messenger with the legendary Blakey [1919-1990].
On November 22, composer-arranger-saxophonist-Grammy winner Bob Mintzer will be backed by the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra, as directed by Dr. Mitch Butler.
For further information and ticketing, visit https://www.wpunj.edu/wppresents/index.html.