January 23, 2004 -

Ottawa -- Legendary jazz saxophonist David Liebman will teach a masterclass through videoconferencing at the National Arts Centre on Tuesday, January 27 from 12:00 noon to 14:00 in the Salon. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Seating in the Salon is limited.

A masterclass is a one-on-one lesson given by a teacher to a student in front of and for the benefit of an audience. Masterclasses are of particular interest and value to music students and teachers of the instrument being taught, but anyone can appreciate and learn from them. The National Arts Centre uses the latest in broadband videoconferencing technology to link students and teachers in different cities for some of these lessons.

For this session, the teacher, David Liebman, will be in New York at the Manhattan School of Music, while the students will be in Ottawa in the NAC Salon. The students are Nathan Cepelinski from the Nepean All-City Jazz Band, Jonathan Stewart from McGill University, Petr Cancura from Carleton University, and Chet Doxas from McGill University.

David Liebman has consistently placed in the top five of the Downbeat Critics’ Poll in the soprano sax category for the last three decades. He has recorded nearly 75 CDs and albums under his own leadership and been a featured sideman on 100 more. Over 175 original compositions have been recorded as well. David Liebman took up jazz fulltime after graduating from New York University. After performing in the saxophone/flute position with the group led by legendary Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones, he was hired by Miles Davis in 1970, and for four years toured and recorded with the master. By 1978, after a world tour with Chick Corea, he formed the David Liebman Quintet. After several world tours and recordings by the quintet over three years, he reunited with Richard Beirach. They began performing and recording as a duo, as well as forming the group Quest, in 1981. In the 1990s The Liebman Group with Phil Markowitz on keyboards, Vic Juris on guitar, Jamey Haddad on drums and Tony Marino on bass, recorded several CDs; toured Europe, Japan and Israel; and pursued a very eclectic, contemporary style. Liebman has often been featured with top European musicians and his reputation in Europe has led to numerous big band and radio orchestra performances.

David Liebman has several books published on a variety of subjects, instructional videos, published chamber music and has contributed regularly to various periodicals such as the Saxophone Journal and the Jazz Educators' Journal. His teaching activities at universities and in clinic settings have taken him literally around the world, primarily because of his varied musical interests, expertise on several instruments and ability to articulate the intricacies of the jazz language, aesthetic and technique.