Music professor’s works included on one of the year’s best jazz releases

“Clarity,” the debut album by the Unhinged Sextet and featuring Associate Professor of Music Will Campbell on alto saxophone and three original tunes by him, was named a “Best Release of 2015” by All About Jazz. The review calls the album “smoking hot … a first-class collection of modern jazz, with strong playing and exciting, varied original compositions.”

Funded partially by a UNC Charlotte faculty research grant, “Clarity” was released in March 2015. The album features original music by band members, including Campbell’s “Down South,” “Leaving Soon” and “Las Palmas.” The album is available on OA2 Records.

Campbell, director of the jazz studies program at UNC Charlotte, has performed with artists such as Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Frank Sinatra Jr., Natalie Cole, Doc Severinsen and Louie Bellson and ensembles such as the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Charlotte Philharmonic Orchestra and Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra.