KINGSTON, R.I.—November 8, 2007–Jazz from Dixieland to Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk and everything in between will ring out for four nights at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston as the URI Jazz Ensembles present their fall end-of-semester Jazz Concert Series. The series, which will cover jazz standards from the American Songbook and also the sounds of the Afro-Cuban Jazz tradition, begins on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at 7:30 p.m.; and continues Friday, Nov. 30, at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m., and Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
The concerts will be held in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston campus. Admission is $8 for the general public, $2 for students, with seating on a first-come basis. The box office opens 45 minutes before each concert. Concert proceeds support scholarships for talented student musicians. For more information, call the URI Music Department at 874-2431.
The first evening’s program will feature performances by the Afro-Cuban and Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, directed by Eric Platz, and the Modal Jazz Combo, directed by Jared Sims. The repertoire of the Afro-Cuban and Contemporary group focuses on music written by post-1960 jazz composers and music that contains rhythmic elements and forms traditional in Afro-Cuban music. The concert program will include pieces by Bill Stewart, Jeff Tain Watts, Pharoah Sanders, and Robin Eubanks among others.
In what has become an annual tradition, the Friday night concert will feature the Traditional Jazz Band, directed by Gary Buttery, and the B101 Jazz Big Band, directed by Joe Parillo. The B101 Big Band, with assistant conductor Steve Johnson and featuring vocalist Addie Archambault, will perform music by Gordon Goodwin, Lennie Niehaus, Bill Holman and Horace Silver.
The Standards Combo, directed by Dave Zinno, and the Monk and Mingus Ensemble, directed by Eric Hofbauer, will be the featured ensembles on December 4, and on the last night of the series, December 6, the Blues and Standards Combo directed by Steve Johnson will open for the C100 Jazz Big Band, directed by John Monllos. The Blues and Standards Combo will be playing tunes by John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Miles Davis and more. The C100 Big Band program includes arrangements by Rob Vuono, Sammy Nestico, Phil Wilson and the Count Basie Orchestra. Stephen Grueb will be the assistant director and Morgan Morrone will be the featured vocalist.