Southeast Missouri State Universitys Jazz Series will present its Gala Festival Concert on Friday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m. in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at Southeasts River Campus.The concert will feature professional jazz trombonist Andre Hayward. Also featured will be Southeasts Studio Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Lab Band. Audiences will be regaled with big band jazz music, which traditionally includes saxophones, trumpets and a rhythm section.Hayward is an extremely gifted trombonist with the sound and clarity reminiscent of the late J.J. Johnson. His gospel-tinged approach is refreshing and will warm the hearts of anyone with whom he comes in contact.He has performed and recorded with singer/bandleader Betty Carter for five years in her acclaimed "Jazz Ahead" program. Other acclaimed performers Hayward has worked with include Joe Williams, Slide Hampton, John Lewis, Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Gerald Wilson, Kirk Whalum, Jimmy Heath, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and Illinois Jacquet's Big Band. His most recent performance credits are The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The San Francisco Jazz Collective, and The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
The Jazz Lab Band, led by Dr. Joseph Jefferson, Southeast professor of music and director of jazz studies, and comprised of both music and non-music majors, will be playing a variety of jazz compositions. Among the selections on their program will be The Preacher, Nows The Time and Caravan. Hayward will join the ensemble to perform Mister Magic.The concert will close with the Studio Jazz Ensemble, also under the direction of Jefferson. This band will perform Blue Bossa, Lament, Black Hole Sun and Michelangelo. Hayward will join the band to perform Dres Blues, Everlasting, On the Sunny Side of the Street and Carl.Student soloists include Caleb Norman (piano), Doug Evans (tenor sax), Max Janssen (alto sax), Jon Allgeyer (trumpet), Reed Waker (alto Sax) and Landon Schnurbush (piano). Kyle Schewcraft (trombone), Levi Smith (trombone) and Joel Fasnut (trombone) will be featured as a section on Lament and On the Sunny Side of the Street.TicketsTickets may be purchased by contacting the River Campus Box Office, located in the Cultural Arts Center, 518 S. Fountain St., weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., by calling (573) 651-2265, or online at http://rivercampus.org/event/clark-terry/.