American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom John Daversa Big Band

• 1Salvador01:32
• 2Living in America05:52
• 3Saba01:41
• 4Don't Fence Me In04:43
• 5Caliph01:35
• 6Immigrant Song03:17
• 7Daisy01:07
• 8Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)04:49
• 9Denzel01:25
• 10Stars and Stripes Forever04:29
• 11Alicia01:16
• 12America (West Side Story)01:29
• 13Juan Carlos01:21
• 14America the Beautiful04:39
• 15Maria00:54
• 16All is One08:40
• 17Edson01:33
• 18Red, White, and Remixed03:27
• Total Runtime53:49

Info for American Dreamers: Voices of Hope, Music of Freedom

American Dreamers is a large jazz ensemble album from multi-Grammy nominated artist John Daversa and his talented Big Band. It features over 50 young Americans known as 'Dreamers' (DACA recipients) who were brought to the US as children. The musicians perform iconic songs of America such as James Brown's 'Living In America' and John Philip Sousa's 'Stars and Stripes Forever'. It's a jazz album that includes cross genre and cross-cultural influences. Putting aside politics and partisanship, everyone can enjoy the songs of America, and this album has received bipartisan support from prominent voices on both sides of the aisle. Indeed, this production shows what's possible in this country and in the world. It's a celebration of 'togetherness'.

John Daversa Big Band

John Daversa
is a versatile and internationally respected performer (Trumpet/EVI), composer, arranger, producer, bandleader, educator, and BFM Jazz recording artist. He is a winner of the Herb Alpert Award, David Joel Miller Award, the National Trumpet Competition, the ITG Jazz Soloist Competition, and finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, and a 3-time Grammy nominee.

Daversa’s celebrated and distinctive musical perspective has been a passport to performances on world stages such as The Today Show, Late Nite with David Letterman, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Live 8 (Berlin), Hamburg Music Festival, Java Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreux Festival, and the Playboy Jazz Festival. He has also had the opportunity to perform or record with artists such as Fiona Apple, Michael Bublé, Dori Caymi, Andraé Crouch, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, Bob Mintzer Big Band, and The Yellowjackets.

In 1996, he founded the John Daversa Big Band, which is one of the leading forces of modern jazz today. Junk Wagon: The Big Band Album (2011), won Best in Show and Awards of Excellence in Creativity/Originality and Production in The Global Music Awards.

“Daversa's fearless exploration...takes him off the beaten path, as he creates bold and ballsy big band music for the modern epoch.”-- AllAboutJazz.

Daversa’s latest big band release, Kaleidoscope Eyes: Music of the Beatles (2016), reverently twists and melts the iconic Beatles songbook with a 40+ orchestra featuring vocal artists Renee Olstead and Katisse Buckingham. Terence Blanchard states, "This is art. This is what music should be. No re-creation. No mimicking. Just honesty. Fearless honesty."

In addition, Daversa leads the John Daversa Small Band consisting of tenor saxophonist Robby Marshall, alto saxophonist/flutist/vocalist Katisse Buckingham, keyboardist Tommy King, bassist Jerry Watts and drummer Gene Coye. This powerhouse ensemble transitions with ease from sections of incredible sensitivity to vignettes of intensity rivaling that of his own Big Band. The Small Group’s latest album Artful Joy features Bob Mintzer and Gretchen Parlato. “This band sounds huge. And let's not forget modern. "New" is in rare supply these days, but you've found yourself some new right here.” –Peter Erskine.

Daversa earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from The University of California, Los Angeles, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Jazz Studies at California Institute of the Arts, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California. After teaching at both USC and California State University Northridge, he is now the chair of Studio Music and Jazz at the Frost School of Music at University of Miami.

This album contains no booklet.