The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, and its new director Dr. Dave Stamps, will return from a short spring concert tour to present its 2015 Home Concert on Sunday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m. For this performance in Jussi Björling Recital Hall, the GJLB will be joined by the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble. Both ensembles are directed by Dave Stamps.
The Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, the top touring jazz ensemble from Gustavus and one of the Midwest’s finest collegiate jazz ensembles. Since 1970, the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band has built its reputation of performance excellence based on a varied repertoire from traditional big band standards to modern compositions. As its reputation for grown, the Band has received well-deserved attention for musical excellence. It has been invited to compete in the prestigious jazz festivals at Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and has performed live on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion and festivals sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society and KBEM-FM Jazz Radio.
For this program, the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band will perform works by Duke Ellington, Don Gibson, Quincy Jones, Sammy Nestico, Michel LeGrand and others. For the first time in many years, the ensemble will include a vocalist, Hannah Walters, who will perform Milton DeLugg & Willie Stein’s Orange Colored Sky and Cole Porter’s Night and Day with the jazz ensemble.
Dave Stamps joined the Department of Music at Gustavus in the fall of 2014 as its new director of jazz studies replacing long-time director Steve Wright. Dave is both an active trombonist and composer/arranger. He has performed with, or written for, the Colorado Jazz Orchestra, the Ninth & Lincoln Jazz Orchestra, and 5th Avenue, and has worked with Chuck Owen, Chick Corea, Gary Hobbs, Jim Widner, Wil Swindler and Luiza Zan, among others. He has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Peru (at the Festival Jazz en Lima) and across Europe, including the Montreax Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and Jazz à Vienne.
Stamps comes to Gustavus from the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he was studying jazz composition to complete his doctor of musical arts degree under the tutelage of Dr. Eric Richards. At UNL, Dave has directed UNL Big Band, taught jazz history and world music, and coordinated the jazz chamber music program. He earned his bachelor of music from Southern Illinois University, and two master of music degrees from the University of South Florida and Northern Illinois University. Before his arrival at UNL, Dave served as the associate director of jazz studies and director designee of the UNC Jazz Press at the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to his time at UNC, he was the managing director of the Center for Jazz Composition and visiting assistant professor at the University of South Florida where, with composer Chuck Owen, he helped develop the Jazz Masterworks Series, the International Jazz Composers’ Symposium, and the International Jazz Arranging Competition.
Sunday’s performance by the Gustavus Jazz Lab Band and the Adolphus Jazz Ensemble, directed by Dave Stamps, will begin at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are not required for this performance in Björling Recital Hall. Admission is free.
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