ISSUED: 27 March 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Kurtis Adams, assistant professor of music and director of jazz studies, will present a night of jazz at the Frank Center Theater on Tuesday, April 7 at 8 p.m.
The Jazz Ensemble will present a tribute to the composer Thad Jones, whose music contributed to the development of the modern big band sound and inspired a range of other composers. This concert will also feature the new Chamber Jazz Ensemble, and smaller nonets and dectets comprised of members of the jazz ensemble.
In 2005, Downbeat Magazine named Adams the college co-winner for Best Original Composition for “Instable Mate?” and in 2007 he was selected to participate in the Paquito D’Rivera Latin Jazz Workshop performing with the Grammy-winning saxophonist at Carnegie Hall in New York. With grant support from both Shepherd and Fordham universities, Adams and Dr. Nathan Lincoln-DeCusatis, a New York-based composer, jazz pianist and assistant professor of music at Fordham, recently produced and recorded an album of their original compositions for a jazz nonet. The recording, made at Blue House Productions in Washington, D.C., is scheduled for release this spring.
The Shepherd University Jazz Ensemble has performed throughout the east coast and Europe and in jazz festivals around the globe, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003. The Jazz Ensemble has also played in Switzerland, Italy, England, and France.
General admission to Jazz Night is $10 for adults; $5 for Shepherd faculty, staff, and alumni, and seniors and students 18 and under; and free to Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID and Friends of Music MAC cardholders. Admission and seating are on first-come first-served basis and reservations are not taken. The box office opens one hour prior to performance. For more information call 304-876-5555 or visit www.shepherd.edu/musicweb.
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