PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University alumni and faculty members will be featured during the 1998 Jazz Festival Nov. 14 on the WSU campus.
Special guests saxophonists and WSU alumni Brent Jensen and Dave Hagelganz will be featured in a 5 p.m. concert in Bryan Hall Auditorium, along with WSU faculty members Horace Alexander Young, vocals and woodwinds; Greg Yasinitsky, saxophone; Charles Argersinger, piano; Dave Jarvis, drums; and Dave Turnbull, trumpet.
The musicians will join the WSU Jazz Big Band, conducted by Yasinitsky, and the “VOJAZZ” vocal jazz ensemble, directed by Young, in the concert that is open to the public without charge.
The day-long festival also will feature high school groups from throughout the Northwest. From 9 a.m.-noon, high school big bands will perform for judges. Vocal jazz ensembles will perform in adjudicated programs from 1-4 p.m. Jazz Northwest, the WSU faculty group, will perform during the noon hour. The three events are set for WSU’s Bryan Hall Auditorium.
Jensen is one of 12 winners in the international talent search, “Woodwinds On Fire.” He was featured in “Jazziz” magazine and his CDs have received national attention. Jensen is a faculty member at Boise State University.
Hagelganz has performed with several jazz artists, including Mal Waldron, Mulgrew Miller, Alan Dawson and Claudio Roditi. He spent three years touring nationally with the David Friesen trio. Hagelganz has received the “dee bee” jazz soloist award from “Down Beat” magazine.
Young, a new WSU faculty member, is the director of the VOJAZZ vocal jazz ensemble and coordinator of combos. He has toured the world performing at numerous major jazz festivals and has recorded with jazz artists B.B. King, Bill Withers, Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), Toots Thielemans, Arnett Cobb, Kenny Barron, George Coleman, Milt Hinton and others.
The WSU Jazz Studies Program continues to receive national recognition. The Jazz Big Band, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, combos and soloists have received several awards from “Down Beat” magazine and honored at major festivals including the Lionel Hampton University of Idaho Jazz Festival.
WSU ensembles and soloists have won recognition at major festivals, including the University of California Pacific Coast Jazz Festival, the Columbia Basin College “Jazz Unlimited” and the Carson-Graham Festival in British Columbia.
Ensembles have been invited to performances at the International Association of Jazz Educators’ international conferences, Hawaii’s Pacific Basin Band Festival, the British Columbia Interior Jazz Festival, American Choral Directors conferences, the Western International Band Clinic conference and Washington Music Educator Association conferences.
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