Matt Wilson Is Guest Artist for Mirza Jazz Residency

Celebrated jazz drummer Matt Wilson is the guest artist for the 2015 Jerome Mirza Jazz Residency, Nov. 2-5 at Knox College.

A Grammy-nominated drummer, Wilson will perform with his quartet and with several Knox student groups, in a free, public concert, at 7 p.m., Thursday, November 5, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus in Galesburg.

Named the "#1 Rising Star Drummer" by Downbeat magazine, Wilson recently performed for a State Dinner concert hosted by President Obama at the White House as part of an all-star jazz group that included Herbie Hancock and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

The week-long residency features concerts and master classes on the Knox campus and in the community. In addition to his work as a performer, composer and band leader, Wilson is a noted music educator, conducting hundreds of outreach programs annually, including an acclaimed Jazz for Young Peoples concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.

A native of Knoxville, Illinois, Wilson has been on the covers of both Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines, and JazzTimes readers voted him as one of the top four drummers in the magazine's 2010 Readers Poll. Wilson has appeared on more than 250 CDs, including nine with his own group on Palmetto Records.

The November 5 concert will feature a new arrangement of an original work, written by Wilson to celebrate the Knox-Rootabaga Jazz Festival. Wilson has been a featured artist four times in the festival's 35-year history of bringing top jazz musicians to Galesburg.

"Matt wrote '25 Years of Rootabagas' to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the festival in 2005," said Nikki Malley, associate professor of music and director of the Jazz Program at Knox. "Matt first recorded it with his quartet and later arranged it for big band. We'll be playing the big band version with him at the concert, along with other pieces that he and the Knox student ensembles will be working up over the course of the residency."

The Jerome Mirza Jazz Residency at Knox College is funded by a grant from the Jerome Mirza Foundation of Bloomington, Illinois. The foundation, which supports programs in education and the arts, was created by a bequest from Jerome Mirza, an attorney who served as president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and wrote several books on personal injury law.

Since the Jerome Mirza Jazz Residency was inaugurated in 2013, the program has brought bassist Ben Allison and saxophonist Donny McCaslin to Galesburg for concerts and classes on the Knox campus and in the community.

Photos: Matt Wilson performing at the Knox Rootabaga Jazz Festival in 2012 (above) and 2010 (below).