Steven Lugerner’s SLUGish Ensemble: Inside the Composer

Founded in 1972, Stanford Jazz Workshop (SJW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to jazz education and appreciation. For over four decades, SJW has been bringing the best jazz performers and educators together with students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds in summer jazz immersion programs such as the Giant Steps Day Camp, Jazz Camp, and Jazz Institute.

During the Stanford Jazz Festival and summer programs, Stanford Jazz Workshop becomes a lively and supportive community of jazz artists, educators, students, and enthusiasts on the beautiful campus of Stanford University. During the evenings, the Festival presents the top jazz artists in the world and during the day, these same artists mingle with SJW students to pass on their experience, techniques, and artistic vision. SJW’s programs provide an exceptional education in jazz, fostering a deeper appreciation of this great improvisational music genre, hailed by many as “the definitive American art form.”

SJW’s faculty has included jazz greats such as Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Ray Brown, Jimmy Cobb, Slide Hampton, Mulgrew Miller, Branford Marsalis, Ray Drummond, Mundell Lowe, Dena DeRose, Steve Davis, Jim Rotondi, the Heath Brothers, Sheila Jordan, Geri Allen, Jim Cullum, Phil Woods, and others. Many emerging jazz stars are past participants of SJW programs, including Joshua Redman, Larry Grenadier, Bill Stewart, Sasha Dobson, Taylor Eigsti, and Jenny Scheinman.