Pacific Jazz Studies Faculty Recital

LUSH LIFE: THE MUSIC OF BILLY STRAYHORN

Jazz Faculty Recital

Joe Mazzaferro, trumpet, flugelhorn

Sean Britt, guitar

Andrew Mell, bass

Omari Tau, guest vocals

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

7:30 pm

Recital Hall

OCTOBER 28, 2025, 7:30 PM

The Intimacy of the Blues (1967)

Joe Mazzaferro is the associate director of jazz studies and associate professor of practice in jazz at University of the Pacific. As a trumpeter, educator, and composer, Mazzaferro is active in the Northern California jazz scene and in demand as a guest artist and clinician across the United States. Mazzaferro’s debut release In Terms of . . . (2017)—which features saxophonist Jeff Clayton along with special guests, drummer Carl Allen and pianist Donald Brown—received high praise from critics and was described as “vintage hard bop with maturity” (George Harris, Jazz Weekly).

Mazzaferro has gained critical acclaim as a composer and arranger and has arranged works for pianist Edward Simon, drummer Carl Allen, trumpeter Terell Stafford, and vocalist Jazzmeia Horn. In 2019 he contributed arrangements to Smoke Session Record’s release Bird at 100, commemorating the centennial of Charlie Parker’s birth, which featured alto saxophonists Vincent Herring, Bobby Watson, and Gary Bartz. Mazzaferro’s July 2020 big-band release Talk About It! Live @ The CLARA features exclusively his arrangements and compositions. Mazzaferro is a graduate of University of the Pacific (BM, music education) and the University of Tennessee (MM, jazz and studio music).

Massachusetts native Sean Britt became the first guitarist for the Brubeck Institute Fellowship program at University of the Pacific in 2013. He was a member of the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet (currently Pacific Jazz Ambassadors) which Downbeat Magazine named the best undergraduate jazz combo in their Student Awards Poll in 2016. Currently, he serves on Pacific’s jazz studies faculty.

While at Pacific, Britt performed with visiting artists including Christian McBride, Stefon Harris, and Chris and Darius Brubeck, among others. Britt transferred to The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City where he received his BFA in Jazz Studies. He went on to receive a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2019.

Andrew Mell joined University of the Pacific's Conservatory of Music faculty as assistant professor of practice in jazz and music industry studies in 2023. As a bassist, Mell has performed across the country at renowned venues with jazz, Latin, classical, and popular music groups. He has shared the stage with celebrated artists such as Emilio Solla, Marcus Lewis, Jeffery Jenkins, and Mitch Towne.

Mell has worked in many areas of the music industry. He has held the position of artistic operations coordinator for the Eugene Symphony, stage manager for the Stanford Jazz Festival, and a recording engineer for the University of Oregon. Mell holds a bachelor’s degree from Willamette University, a master’s degree from the University of Oregon, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He has also held the position of bass instructor at Willamette University and taught in the jazz and music technology departments at University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Omari Tau was once warned, “A chameleon changes its colors, not its shape.” He has been defying that statement ever since… With over 30 years in the arts, his constant reimagining of self in sound and style have been the ingredients to a multi-faceted career.

The Sacramento native Tau is co-founding artistic director of Rogue Music Project and has been teaching vocal music at Cosumnes River College since 2013. He is also a member of the band Solabel. His degrees from Michigan State University and the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston in music education and vocal music performance helped him to feel at home in operatic and musical theatre worlds, as well as in jazz and pop genres.

Tau served as the director of opera theatre at Sacramento State University from 2012 to 2018 and directed Houston Grand Opera’s Education and Outreach program Opera To Go! which prepared young professionals and college-level artists for the stage performing in an opera troupe dedicated to young audiences.

As performing artist, Tau toured internationally with Disney’s The Lion King for nearly nine years, performing the role of Banzai with both the Cheetah and Gazelle companies. Other credits include roles at the Tony Awardwinning Alley Theatre, the Tony Award-Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, MUNY, Sacramento’s Broadway at Music Circus, and Theater Under the Stars among others. Tau appears on various recordings with Solabel as well as solo work with composer Graham Sobleman.

As composer, Tau’s operas A Night at the Algonquin, Hans in Luck and The Pre-Show Opera Lecture were commissioned and premiered by Lone Star Lyric where they enjoyed successful runs. He composed for Houston Grand Opera’s education and outreach program as well as his initiative Lions in the Library, which features chamber music accompaniments to readings of children’s books. In 2023, he was honored to arrange music for Disney’s The Lion King 25th Anniversary along with a new commission by The Alvin Ailey, Ailey II company in 2024.

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