Taylor Gordon

In the Brooklyn area? Check out the J Dilla Ensemble in action.

Posted by Liz

On July 9, 2010

Tomorrow (July 10, 2010), Berklee’s own J Dilla Ensemble will take the stage at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. The festival takes the cake as the largest hip-hop cultural gathering in the NYC area; last year, the festival drew over 8,000 people. The ensemble is performing from 3:00 p.m. -3:25 p.m. and will also perform between other artists’ sets from noon-2:45 p.m.

A few weeks ago, I caught up with the ensemble’s faculty advisor, Brian ‘Raydar’ Ellis, and even got some of their rehearsal on tape.

Two students in the group, Taylor Gordon and Dane Orr, were also kind enough to let me catch them on the flip cam, too.

(View all the videos in one place after the jump.)

Anyone Brooklyn-bound this weekend should check out the ensemble for a show that’s not to be missed!

Student Dane Orr Interview

Student Taylor Gordon Interview

The snare drum rolls in Clarksdale for the summer scholarship applicants

Posted by Allen Bush

On April 22, 2010

In Berklee on Tour, Mississippi

From left: Kyleen Thomas and Paula Thompson, Delta Blues Museum Arts & Education Program students.

I can’t imagine what the two young women have been thinking since their scholarship auditions at the Delta Blues Museum on Thursday. Jacquline Gooch and Paula Thompson, students from the Delta Blues Museum’s Arts & Education Program, were both outstanding. Gooch, 19, accompanied herself on a guitar with a sliver of worn wood below the sound hole that looked like a scar. I imagined the hours she’s played her instrument, writing her own songs and learning others. Thompson, 15, stood with the microphone in hand and sang for a small audience of family and museum staffers. Kyleen Thomas, 12, another museum student, played bass while instructor Daddy Rich played guitar for Thompson. Rich, museum gift shop manager Chris Coleman, Berklee professor Lenny Stallworth and I judged the two singers and multi instrumentalists. It’s hard to choose one of them when there are two talented and deserving hopefuls.

Mississippi Music Exchange

Posted by Magen

On April 17, 2010

In Berklee on Tour

Bill Banfield in the Control Room at Clarksdale Studio

Berklee Multicultural Educator – Program Manager, Kevin Johnson writes from the Mississippi Music Exchange visit to the 7^th Annual Clarksdale Juke Joint Festival. For more information check out the press release on Berklee.edu.

Today faculty members Lenny Stallworth and Bill Banfield, along with students Taylor Gordon (drums), Mario Castro (sax), Eric Finland (keys) and Director of Media Relations, Allen Bush and I arrived in Clarksdale, Mississippi to attend the Juke Joint Festival. Allen and Lenny conducted auditions at the Delta Blues Museum and two talented young Mississippi musicians will be awarded full scholarships to the 5-week summer program.

Berklee Blogs

First-hand accounts of the Berklee experience

Tag: Taylor Gordon

In the Brooklyn area? Check out the J Dilla Ensemble in action.

The snare drum rolls in Clarksdale for the summer scholarship applicants

Mississippi Music Exchange

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