Posted 3:54 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022
UWL big bands to perform a variety of jazz, Latin, funk
The UW-La Crosse jazz program will present its two big bands in a diverse fall concert of swing, cool jazz, funk, Latin and modern jazz selections.
The UWL Jazz Ensemble and UWL Jazz Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Toland Theater, Lowe Center for the Arts, 333 N. 16th St. Admission is free.
The concert will be the debut of the newest member of the UWL jazz program Jon Ailabouni, director of the Jazz Ensemble and the Music Department's new trumpet instructor. The Jazz Orchestra is directed by Director of Jazz Studies Jeff Erickson.
Both groups will feature the music of Thad Jones and Fred Sturm, in a program of diverse jazz and big band styles of music.
In honor of Truman T. Lowe, for whom the Center for the Arts was renamed earlier this month, the Jazz Ensemble will perform "Spirit Song," a new composition by Ellen Rowe. The work was commissioned by the Jazz Educator's Network. Rowe was inspired for this piece after reading “Braiding Sweetgrass” by botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer. The composition reflects on how indigenous peoples' reverence for the land has led to specific practices to preserve vital resources and suggests new ways to be in relationship with nature to help guarantee the survival of the planet.
Find out more about the UWL Music Department.