Steve Rudolph and Tim Warfield to Perform at Ware Center, 10/17

Two of the area's most highly acclaimed jazz musicians, pianist Steve Rudolph and saxophonist Tim Warfield, will headline a night of cabaret-style entertainment Friday, Oct. 17, at the Ware Center of Millersville University in Lancaster, to kick off the season's "Jazz in the Sky" concert series at the Ware Center. The concert, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will take place in the Ware Center's newly renamed Owen Salon, and is being dedicated to the late Keith Mohler, who had been a fixture in Lancaster's jazz scene and past programmer of three years of the "Jazz in the Sky" concert series.

Jazz pianist Steve Rudolph, who will perform at the Ware Center with Steve Meashey on bass and Larry Marshall on drums as the Steve Rudolph Trio, is founder and executive director of Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz, which for 33 seasons has hosted monthly concerts, youth jazz camps, and the annual Central PA Jazz Festival. Rudolph, who was born in Evansville, Ind., and moved to Harrisburg, Pa., in 1978, is widely credited for being responsible in large part for the area's thriving jazz scene, and was the 2002 recipient of the Harrisburg Arts Award.

With a career of 40 years of music making, Rudolph's vast experience includes concert performances alongside such jazz masters as Louie Bellson, Clark Terry, Terry Gibbs, Rufus Reid, Buddy Tate, Al Grey, the Mills Brothers, and Cal Collins, and on tour throughout North America, India, Europe, Russia and the Caribbean. As a recording artist, he has headed 11 CDs, and produced, performed and arranged for numerous others, including CDs with Johnny Coles, Bill Goodwin, Ali Ryerson, Matt Wilson and Vinny Valentino.

Tim Warfield, a native of York, Pa., began winning awards as a jazz soloist while still in high school, including coming in second out of 40 at the Montreal Festival of Music in Canada. In 1991, he placed third at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, held in Washington, D.C. That year, he also joined Jazz Futures, a world touring group featuring rising young jazz musicians assembled by jazz impresario George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival.

After two years of college at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Warfield left to lead various music groups in the central Pennsylvania and Baltimore/Washington areas, later becoming a recording artist featured on several Grammy-nominated CDs. His own first recording, "A Cool Blue," was selected as one of the top ten recordings of the year in a 1995 New York Times critic's poll, as was his 1998 recording, "Gentle Warrior."

Warfield currently serves on the board of directors of the Central PA Friends of Jazz, where he chairs its music committee, as well as artist-in-residence at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., and as an adjunct faculty member in the music department at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Tickets are $25 each. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ArtsMU.com or by calling the Millersville University Ticket Office at 717-871-7600. Tickets may also be purchased at the Ticket Office on the Millersville University campus (Student Memorial Center) and at the Ware Center, located at 42 N. Prince Street in downtown Lancaster.

Additionally, a special gathering is planned for the friends of Keith Mohler. This gathering is free (no ticket required) and open to the public. Join us at 6 pm at the Ware Center, prior to the start of Jazz in the Sky, to share your stories, memories, and regards to the late Keith Mohler.

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