Free Flight Duo to Perform

Jim Walker, the flutist and leader of the jazz/classical ensemble Free Flight, will give a free concert at the College on Friday, November 8. The performance will begin at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall. Walker, who was invited to perform with Paul McCartney at the Academy Award ceremony last March, will be joined by collaborating pianist Bryan Pezzone, called by one critic "the consummate crossover pianist of his generation."

Walker and Pezzone are being brought to campus by a grant from the Robert G. Boehmler Community Foundation. Boehmler, who received a bachelor's degree from the School of Music in 1938 and a master's degree in 1961, was a musician and educator who established this foundation to support education in the communities in which he lived.

Grounded in the classical tradition, Jim Walker was a flutist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and later the principal flute chair with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Jazz, however, had always held a special place in his heart, and in the 1980s he left the orchestra to start Free Flight, a flute-led "crossover" ensemble featuring a piano, bass, and drums. The ensemble's repertoire includes works by Beethoven, Bach, Miles Davis, and the Beatles.

Walker maintains that eclectic approach in his solo performances. He has made four appearances on the Tonight Show, performed in some of the country's leading concert halls, and lent his unique flute stylings to the sound tracks of such films as Back to the Future, Titanic, Forrest Gump, and Schindler's List.

Pezzone has proven to be equally as versatile. In addition to touring with Free Flight, he has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the San Antonio Symphony, the Colorado and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, and the Pasadena Pops. Pezzone also interpolates free improvisation with poetry readings. He has been the pianist for the sound tracks of most of the cartoons released by Warner Brothers and Disney over the past six years.