All News

National and regional news organizations regularly interview Hamilton faculty, staff, alumni, and students for their expertise and perspectives on current events, and to feature programs and activities on campus. February’s news topics included varied subjects from President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to campus to the possible economic and political effects of decisions made by President Donald Trump.

Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive and lecturer in music performance (saxophone), recently announced the completion of Season 4 of the Jazz Backstory podcast.

April’s news highlights ranged from commentary on the wars in Sudan and Ukraine to postwar African American music in France.

More than 400 video and audio recordings of jazz greats, their band members, critics, writers, and composers retelling their personal histories in the world of jazz comprise the Hamilton College Jazz Archive. Organizing those interviews within major categories of interest and study to capture salient, meaningful, or groundbreaking moments might be an overwhelming task for most.

The Fillius Jazz Archive has, among its more than 400 videotaped interviews, two with jazz great Dave Brubeck, shared here.

As Frank Alkyer, publisher of Downbeat magazine, notes: “The Fillius Jazz Archive [has] been doing righteous work for a quarter century.”

This week’s Hamilton Encore features the Hamilton College Saxophone Ensemble performing the toe-tapping tune “Blister in the Sun,” arranged by saxophonist Tyler Boudreau ’20. The Sax Ensemble is part of the music department’s chamber ensemble program and is directed by Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive and lecturer in saxophone.

Today marks the 100th birthday of jazz singer Joe Williams (1918-1999), Hamilton honorary degree recipient in 1988 and co-founder of the Fillius Jazz Archive.

Monk Rowe, the Joe Williams Director of the Jazz Archive and Lecturer in Music Performance (Saxophone) will be honored with the 2018 Syracuse Area Music Awards (SAMMYs) Music Educator of the Year award on March 2.

On Saturday, Nov. 11, the Days-Massolo Center, with Monk Rowe, “Doc” Woods, and The College Hill Singers, presented a variety of interpretations of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” as part of a celebration of our collective journeys.