*Diehn Concert Series: Dick Oatts Jazz Residency - Concert with the ODU Jazz Choir and Jazz Orchestra
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- Date/Time
- 04/23/2017 4:00 PM EST - 6:00 PM EST
- Location
- Diehn Center for the Performing Arts
- Fee
- Free
- Description
- Richard Dennis “Dick” Oatts is an American jazz saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator from Jefferson, Iowa. He is currently a professor of jazz studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, and an artist-in-residence at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Oatts first became interested in saxophone due to his father Jack Oatts, a respected jazz educator and saxophonist. He attended Drake University before beginning his professional career in Minneapolis in 1972. In 1977, he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, which later became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Oatts’ work on woodwind instruments (soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet, and flute) became more widely known as he fronted the crossover jazz group, Flim & the BBs in the 1980s and ’90s. In tandem with bassist Jimmy (aka “Flim”) Johnson, drummer Bill Berg, and keyboardist Billy Barber, Oatts rounded out the contemporary jazz foursome to release several popular albums. Since the 1970s, Oatts has released more than a dozen CDs as a leader and co-leader, and has appeared on more than 100 albums as a sideman with a number of artists including Joe Henderson, Jerry Bergonzi, Eddie Gomez, Bob Brookmeyer, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Joe Lovano and others, working extensively with Steeplechase Records. He has also accompanied several other notable artists such as Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughn, Mel Torme, and Ella Fitzgerald.
*Recital Attendance Credit: Blue Card Event
