Award-winning saxophonist Avery to perform at Troesh

Avery will perform at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16 backed by Henry “the Skipper” Franklin on bass, Theo Saunders on piano, and Ramon Banda on drums. Admission is free.

Avery is a saxophonist, composer, and producer with graduate degrees in music and jazz studies and a roster of notable performance and recording credits with many famous acts. He has also worked with top television shows and the feature films “Beauty Shop,” “Brown Sugar,” and “Love Jones.”

Avery, a California native, got his start in music when his father enrolled him in classical guitar lessons at age 10. Influenced by the sound of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” Avery switched to the saxophone at age 13. Four years later, he won a full music scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. Carl Griffin, an artists and repertoire executive of GRP/Impulse Records signed Avery to a contract at age 19. 

In 1994, while an undergraduate, Avery released his first album, “In Other Words,” which received critical acclaim. Since then he has worked with eminent artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ramsey Lewis, Hank Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, Bobby Watson, The Roy Hargrove Big Band, and Grammy award-winner Dee Dee Bridgewater. After the release of his second album, “My Generation,” Avery was invited to tour with Lauryn Hill as a member of her sold-out world tour from 1998-1999, and with the mega rock group Matchbox Twenty in 2000. He also composed music for Amy Winehouse’s debut album “Frank.”

Avery received a master’s degree in music from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and a doctorate in jazz studies from the University of Southern California. Avery has been the recipient of multiple awards, including The Sony Innovator Award, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts’ Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship, and the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics Award.

Franklin has organized the Pierce Street Jazz concerts at La Sierra University since their inception as a summer jazz series in 2009. He has recorded and produced more than 150 albums and compact discs including gold releases. He has performed with many headline artists and was part of the legendary Hugh Masekela's band during the late 1960s.

Saunders has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls with distinguished artists including Freddie Hubbard, Carla Bley, David “Fathead” Newman, Barbara Morrison, Gladys Knight, and many others. He has directed music for opera productions and international musical theatre. He also has numerous compositions to his credit as well as original scores for theatre, radio and multimedia production.

Banda performed 24 years with the Grammy award-winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. Over the past two decades, he has performed on more than 22 recordings and recorded and played with such music greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Diana Reeves and others.

The Troesh Conference Center is located at the Zapara School of Business, La Sierra University. For further information, call 951-785-2148. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.