The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Director Steve Wright
The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble, directed by Steve Wright, present their combined fall concert Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s performance by the two jazz ensembles will be presented in Jussi Björling Recital Hall. The fall jazz concert at Gustavus is free and open to the public.
The Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and guest director Andy Phillips ’13 will open the evening’s performance with a set of jazz compositions by Duke Jordan, Michel LeGrand, Wayne Shorter, Johnny Burke & Bob Haggert, Bobby Timmons and Erik Morales. The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Director Steve Wright will then take the Björling stage and present works by Nat Adderly, Frank Foster, Bob Russell & Duke Ellington, Jimmy Heath, Oliver Nelson, Andy Classen and Sonny Henry.
Jazz at Gustavus is one of the oldest collegiate jazz programs in the state. Started in 1970, the program was created by long-time professor of music, Mark Lammers. The Gustavus Stage Band (its original title) was a for-credit program from its beginning and began touring in the spring of 1973 with a short spring break tour. By the time Steve Wright accepted the call as director in 1990, the program had grown to two ensembles, the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Adolphus Jazz Ensemble. Gustavus Jazz has continued to gain critical acclaim through annual concerts on campus, its work with guest artists, concert tours, recordings and invitations to participate in national jazz competitions and festivals which included both the Notre Dame and Eau Claire Jazz Festivals in the spring of 2011.
Saturday’s performances by the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band are free and open to the public. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in Björling Recital Hall.