PULLMAN, Wash. – The faculty jazz combo Jazz Northwest will present a concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, in Kimbrough Concert Hall at Washington State University, part of the School of Music Faculty Artist Series.
Tickets cost $10 general admission, $5 seniors 60 and older and non-WSU students, and free for WSU students with ID. Proceeds will benefit the school’s scholarship fund. Tickets will be available in the lobby 30 minutes before the concert.
The performance will pay tribute to jazz icon Miles Davis, who not only shaped thousands of musicians all over the world but every member of Jazz Northwest. The combo will play tunes that have been influenced by Davis, directly or indirectly – not just rehashing what he did but pushing the parameters as he did.
The group will premiere two compositions by Gregory Yasinitsky: “One, two, three,” an up-tempo hard-bop chart, and “Blues for Brecker,” a funk chart dedicated to the late jazz saxophone player and composer Michael Brecker.
Arrangements by combo director Frederick “Dave” Snider will include the medium blues “Captain Bill,” by Ray Brown, the up-tempo hard-bop “Sweet Georgia Bright,” by Charles Lloyd, and the medium up-tempo chart “Humpty Dumpty,” by Chick Corea.
Other works will include Brian Ward’s arrangement of “And Sammy Walked In,” a Latin chart by Michel Camilo, and Bradley Ard’s “Staring into Space,” a ballad electronic music style chart.
Featured soloists will include Snider on string bass, Yasinitsky on alto saxophone, Ward on piano, Ard on guitar, David Turnbull on trumpet, David Jarvis on drum set and David Hagelganz on tenor saxophone.
Davis was a jazz trumpet/flugelhorn player, composer, band leader and leading innovator of jazz music for more than four decades. He was on the cutting edge of setting the standards for bebop, cool, hard bop, modal, free and fusion jazz, and he set the benchmark for countless musicians.
Contacts:
Frederick “Dave” Snider, WSU School of Music, 509-335-3963, fsnider@wsu.edu
Sandra Albers, WSU School of Music, 509-335-4148, sandra_albers@wsu.edu