UNT jazz bass professor receives Fulbright to teach in Latvia

Monday, July 21, 2014 - 18:42
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DENTON (UNT), Texas – UNT College of Music jazz bass professor Lynn Seaton has been named a 2014-15 Fulbright Scholar and will depart in August for Latvia, where he will teach for the fall 2014 semester.

At the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia, Seaton will teach jazz bass and improvisation for all instruments, as well as coach music ensembles, he said.

"I'm very excited and very curious about what to expect," said Seaton, who has never visited Latvia. "I have performed in more than 35 countries – some of them several times – but I have never been in one area long enough to know what it's like to live there. Being in Latvia for the entire semester will allow me to experience the local culture much more in depth than I ever have in my previous travels."

Although his teaching duties will be in English, Seaton expects to learn more about the traditional folk music native to Latvia.

"Since I am a perpetual student of music and life, it is inevitable that I will learn much about local culture, music and life in the beautiful country of Latvia," said Seaton, who will be taking his son, Aubrey, on the trip.

One of the world's leading performers and teachers of jazz bass, Seaton not only teaches at UNT, but is director of the annual Lynn Seaton Jazz Double Bass Workshop that is held every summer for advanced high school, college, serious amateur and professional bassists.

In addition to teaching at UNT, Seaton tours as a performer and clinician. He has performed in 49 of the 50 states, at music festivals worldwide and participated in more than 125 recording sessions, including the Grammy Award winning "Diane Schuur and The Count Basie Orchestra" and two Grammy nominated recordings, "Woody Herman 50th Anniversary" and John Fedchock's "No Nonsense." He has also worked with the Cincinnati and Dallas pops orchestras and has performed on CBS Sunday Morning, the Bill Cosby show, for international television shows and for radio broadcasts with NPR and several European stations.

Seaton will return to UNT in spring 2015 and looks forward to sharing his experience in Latvia with his students in Denton.

"Part of the joy of being a professor is sharing knowledge with students," Seaton said. "That includes tales of life on the road, new people, cultures and cuisine. I will have more first-hand knowledge of the marvelous diversity this world has to offer."

About Lynn Seaton

Seaton began studying music at a young age – taking up classical guitar at age 7 and switching to string bass at 9. In 1981, he was awarded a Jazz Studies Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to study with Rufus Reid. During the 1980s, he joined Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, earned a position in the Count Basie Orchestra and did an extended tour with Tony Bennett. He later toured with George Shearing, Monty Alexander and was a member of the Jeff Hamilton Trio. Seaton has worked with many renowned musicians, including Herb Ellis, Mel Tormé, Nancy Wilson, Buck Clayton and others. Seaton has several critically acclaimed recordings under his own name, including "Bassman's Basement," "Solo Flights," "Puttin' on the Ritz" and "Zoom Blewz," and has published a book, Jazz Solos for Bass. He is a member of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and winner of the Sammons Jazz Artist of the Year.

About the UNT College of Music

The UNT College of Music is one of the largest and most respected comprehensive music schools in the country. More than 1,600 music students attend UNT each year, participating in more than 50 widely varied ensembles and pursuing specialized studies in performance, composition, music education or music scholarship. UNT faculty members and students have made appearances on the world's finest stages and have produced numerous recordings, many receiving Grammy awards and nominations. Distinguished UNT alumni can be found around the globe, in top music ensembles, opera companies, universities and schools.

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