The Northwest Missouri State University Jazz Ensemble will perform two local concerts as a warmup to its performance at the 2019 Missouri Music Educators Association In-Service Workshop and Conference. (Northwest Missouri State University photos)

Jan. 15, 2019

Jazz Ensemble to perform Jan. 20 at Northwest, Jan. 21 in St. Joseph

The Northwest Jazz Ensemble performs annually at the Northwest Jazz Festival. (Photos by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

The Northwest Missouri State University Jazz Ensemble is tuning up for a performance this month at the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) In-Service Workshop and Conference and will present two preview concerts this weekend in Maryville and St. Joseph.

The Jazz Ensemble will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 20, in the Charles Johnson Theater and at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, with the St. Joseph Big Band at Ground Round, 123 Sixth St., in St. Joseph. 

Both performances will feature the Jazz Ensemble’s MMEA program, “Made in Kansas City,” a tribute to composers and performers from the Kansas City area. The program consists of “Witchcraft” by Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman, and arranged by David Aaberg; “Chunka Lunka” by Mary Lou Williams; “Ipso Facto” by Clint Ashlock; “Cute” by Neal Hefti and transcribed by Allan Glasscock; “I Just Found Out About Love” by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, and arranged by Don Menza; and “Gunslinging Bird” by Charles Mingus and arranged by Steve Slagle.

The Jazz Ensemble was selected last fall, through competitive application and audition processes, to perform at MMEA’s 81st annual conference. That performance is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, at the Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri.

The Northwest Jazz Ensemble, one of two jazz bands at the University, is a select group of musicians dedicated to performing big band music. With 21 members, it performs music representing a variety of styles and regularly tours the four-state region, in addition to on-campus performances throughout the academic year. The ensemble is under the direction of Dr. William Richardson, the University’s first Dennis C. Dau Professor of Instrumental Music.

For more information about the Jazz Ensemble and other music ensembles at Northwest, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/finearts/music/.