The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Steve Wright, director
The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble, directed by Steve Wright, will present their combined fall concert Sunday, November 24 at 1:30 p.m. Sunday’s performance by the two jazz ensembles will be presented in Jussi Björling Recital Hall. It is free and open to the public.
Sunday’s fall concert will open with the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble, directed by Steve Wright. The program includes a number of well-known works such as Blue Monk by Thelonius Monk, Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen and Boplicity by Miles Davis, along with some lesser-know tunes like Walk, Don’t Run by Johnny Smith, Sedentary Motion by Tom Garling and Oculpaca by Michael Philip Mossman. For the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band’s half of the concert, Dr. Wright has selected a similar variety of jazz charts. The GJLB will open its performance with Peaceful Thunder by Louis Bellson and Dave Black, followed by Cole Porter’s Begin the Beguine and Thad Jones Three & One. Not to be left out of the mix, the director has programmed one of his own compositions, Empathy, for the next work on the program. The Jazz Lab Band’s program concludes with Bill Liston’s Another Look at the Diminished Chord and Winds Out of the East by Michael Philip Mossman.
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 has included both the Notre Dame and Eau Claire Jazz Festivals. A ten-day concert tour is planned for the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and Director Steve Wright in the spring of 2014 with performances in Texas, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota.
Sunday’s performances by the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble and the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band are free and open to the public. The concert begins at 1:30 p.m. in Björling Recital Hall.