JONES UNCOVERED: A Reinterpretation of the music of Quincy Jones

Alverno Presents commissions Jones Uncovered: A Reinterpretation of the music of Quincy Jones, a one-of-a-kind, one-night-only collaboration between a diverse company of local artists brought together by DJ Jordan “Madhatter” Lee to respond to and reimagine the music of the legendary Quincy Jones.  Saturday, April 11, 2015, 8:00 PM, at Alverno College’s Pitman Theatre.  3431 S. 39^th St. Milwaukee, WI 53234.

Tickets are available online at http://alvernopresents.alverno.edu or at Alverno Presents Box Office at 414-382-6044.  Artist bios, video clips and links to artist’s web sites as well as artist jpegs may be downloaded at http://alvernopresents.alverno.edu/shows/jones-uncovered/

“I’m probably the only one in the world you can name that’s worked with Billie Holiday, Louie Armstrong, Ella, Duke, Miles, Dizzy, Ray Charles, Aretha, Michael Jackson, rappers.  Fly Me To The Moon was played on the moon by Buzz Aldrin.  Sinatra, Paul Simon, Tony Bennett.  I’m the only one.”  Quincy Jones.

As producer, conductor, arranger and composer, Quincy Jones shaped a half century of American music.   He has been nominated for a record 79 Grammys — and won 27.

Turntablist and DJ Jordan “Madhatter” Lee discovered Quincy Jones through Hip Hop — the Pharcyde’s Passing Me By sampling Quincy’s Summer In The City. Notorious B.I.G.’s Unbelievable sampling Quincy’s Kitty With The Bent Frame. Tupac Shakur’s Guess Who’s Back sampling Quincy’s theme to Ironsides.  This led Jordan deeper into Jones’ legacy. As producer, conductor, arranger and composer, Jordan Lee heads a musical juggernaut, including David Wake, Adi Amour (Growing Nation), Jay Anderson (Aluar Pearls), Lex Allen, Evan Christian, Count Classic (Rusty Ps), Travis Drow, Olen Franklin (Ras Movement), Aaron Gardner (Willy Porter Band), Scott Hlavenka (Milwaukee Hot Club), Klassik, Lucky Diop, Shahanna McKinney (Highball Holiday), Cecilio Negron jr. (De La Buena) Painted Caves, Phantom Channel (Rusty Ps), Robin Pluer, Matt Turner (The Erotic Adventures of Static Chicken), Kiran Vee (Free Cut Collective, into the past sixty years of American music and the man who was at its center.

Jordan “Madhatter” Lee is a radio professional, DJ, mentor, and above all, master of the turntables. Music is in his blood and has played a major part of his life since a young age. His father was a professional musician and urged him to begin banging the drums before the age of ten. It was a natural step into marching band and orchestra, voice and theater training, and the many garage bands with high school buddies.   After high school, he cobbled together all of his graduation money and bought a proper set of turntables and left his drums behind. To him, the turntables were his new drum, and his records, the tools to make his music.  In 1999, Jordan left his hometown Kenosha for Milwaukee to attend University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he studied arts, education and film. But really, between the ages 18-20, Jordan became a scholar of the turntables and dedicated every waking moment to teaching himself how to scratch, picking up tips and tricks from other  musicians along the way. Jordan starting DJing at a club in his dorm, of all places, and took the title DJ Madhatter.  Collaborations with Milwaukee musicians the Fader Grimmlins and Kung Fusion led him to the Rusty P’s, a hip-hop group he performed and recorded with from 2003-2010. With the Rusty P’s, he performed with hip-hop powerhouses Atmosphere, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Brother Ali, Ludacris, Questlove, De La Soul and Biz Markie. One of his most noteworthy engagements was a solo scratching performance for the  U.S. Premier of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra with the Present Music Ensemble. He has since performed the modern concerto in Seattle, Toronto and Chicago. In 2009, he began working at WYMS Radio Milwaukee and has served as the Assistant Program Director since 2011. Currently, he co-hosts the morning show, AMKE, and produces both the Milwaukee Music Awards event and weekly Saturday Sessions program that features local DJs. As a producer and musician, Jordan dabbles in a variety of music. His tastes vary frequently, but his influences are constant: Motown, soul, funk, punk, ska, reggae, rock, blues, and any beat driven music. For the past nine years, he’s been organizing the Miltown Beat Down for budding and established DJs and producers in Milwaukee. The beat battle has brought more than 100 competitors to Milwaukee to battle it out in a progressive competition that crowns just one winner every year.

Jones Uncovered continues Alverno Presents inquiry into the American Songbook.  The premise – a song becomes great by how it inspires re-interpretation.  The format – a smart, passionate and uber-connected curator assembles an A-team of Milwaukee’s best musicians to explore the music of an important American composer.  Past “Uncovered” shows include Beautiful Dreamer: The Foster Project (curated by Ryan Schleicher), Unlooped Vs. Marvin Gaye (curated by Tarik Moody) and Smith Uncovered: a reinterpretation of the songs of Patti Smith (curated by Betty Strigens).

Sponsors
National Endowment for the Arts, Wisconsin Arts Board, Pepsi, Transfer Pizzeria and Café, Brenner Brewing Company

Media Sponsors

WUWM 89.7 FM, Radio Milwaukee 88.9 FM, WMSE 91.7 FM, Milwaukee Record

Alverno Presents 

Alverno Presents, the performing arts series of Alverno College, is celebrating its 55th year.  The series has innovated beyond our history as the longest running, continuous arts presenter in the city, to our niche of presenting contemporary dance, world music and jazz and an array of performance events. Alverno Presents shares the school’s mission by ensuring broad access to and participation in learning, experiencing and developing the arts for the learning community of Alverno, and our community as a whole.  For more information on Alverno Presents, special projects, media reviews and more, visit alvernopresents.alverno.edu, contact Alverno Presents Managing Director at 414-382-6151, or e-mail rory.trainor@alverno.edu.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.