Department of Music to
present Jazz Bands

Nov. 5, 2007 -- The Department of Music at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro will present the ASU Jazz Bands Monday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Riceland Hall, Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.

The ASU Jazz Studies Department promises a strong showing as it moves into the semester's second concert. This concert will feature both of the university bands and will cover a tremendous variety of big band and small group classics. "The students have had a really energizing semester and are ready to share that energy. We have a really excellent and growing audience, and we show them how much we love them through our music," says band director E. Ron Horton. For this concert, the band will be featuring some of the composers who have made an impact upon the direction that this sort of music has traveled through the years. "Of course, we are going to feature Basie and Ellington," says Horton, "because without those two, we might not even have the modern jazz big band. But in addition to those two, we are going to feature some other important artists as well. The Jazz Lab band will be featuring Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing."  This piece is still one of the most technically challenging in the big band repertoire and is still a challenge for bands today. We will feature Angela Guajardo on trumpet for this one, and those who are familiar with the tune know that it is also one of the most exciting drum features around. In our case, it will feature Curtis Farley. The Jazz Lab Band will also play a song that was made popular by Lee Morgan, "The Sidewinder." This piece was on the cutting edge of jazz in the sixties because of its infectious danceable beat. If audience members find themselves unable to keep from dancing, they'll be forgiven."

ASU's jazz band will also be playing music from the cutting edge as they play some songs from some of the big bands' most respected modern leaders. "We are going to give our audience a taste of Thad Jones and Buddy Rich, and the way the band is playing these charts, you will be on the edge of your seat. Additionally, we will feature vocalist Kari Rickman on a piece by one of today's newest and most exciting composers, Sherrise Rogers. It is going to be really exciting for audiences to see the incredible way that Rogers integrates the voice into the big band. This is going to be an exciting night of jazz, and we can't wait to see you there."

The ASU Jazz Band members are: vocals, Kari Rickman of Jonesboro; alto saxophones, Claire Richardson of Jonesboro and Michael Newson of Memphis, Tenn.; tenor saxophones, Daniel Rickman and Allen Adcock of Jonesboro; baritone saxophone, Adam Leslie of Jonesboro; trombones, Blake Howerton of Paragould, Matt Strawbridge, Kade Holliday, and Treavor Mitchell, all of Jonesboro; trumpets, Grant Harbison of Jonesboro, Joseph Curtis of Trumann, Antonio Sparks of Jonesboro, and Lara Spain of Wynne; vibes and piano, Janet Rooney of Trumann; piano, Mauricio Dixon of Wynne; guitar, Jay Shepherd of Paragould; bass, Kevin Cremeens of Jonesboro; drums and vocals, Perry Harper of Paragould.

Members of the ASU Jazz Lab Band are: alto saxophones, Ashley Flory of Cherokee Village and Daidreon Clayton of Jonesboro; tenor saxophones, T. J. Burns and Shirley Smith of Jonesboro; baritone saxophone, Adam Leslie of Jonesboro; trombones, Kyle Manley and Jeremy Ramsey of Jonesboro, and Brandon Avant of West Memphis; trumpets, Antonio Starks of Jonesboro, Angela Guajardo of Marion, Seth Schader of Russellville, and Joseph Curtis of Trumann; bass, Jay Burns of Jonesboro; and drums, Curtis Farley and Ben Merritt, both of Jonesboro.

This concert is free and open to the public.  For more details, please call the Department of Music at (870) 972-2094.
 

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