Southern Utah University’s music department is hosting its annual High School Jazz Festival featuring performances throughout Saturday, Feb 26 by six Utah high schools’ jazz bands and an evening concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Heritage Center Theater.
The evening concert will feature SUU’s Jazz 1 Ensemble, jazz group Charged Particles and tenor saxophonist Tod Dickow. The concert is free for the community.
This festival is an opportunity for high school jazz bands to prepare for regional competitions. After attending three clinics, each band will perform a swing piece, a ballad and a third tune for formal judgment.
Featured group Charged Particles is a high-energy band made up of three members: keyboardist Murray Low, acoustic and electric bassist Aaron Germain and drummer Jon Krosnick. Dickow has accompanied the group for their recent project, playing music from iconic saxophonist Michael Brecker who passed away in 2007.
The group’s repertoire ranges from Latin jazz to romantic ballads. They are known for being spontaneous while performing, each player prone to improvisation that creates a unique groove.
Charged Particles was formed in the late ‘90s but its current members did not make up the group until 2011. Since then, they have performed across the country and appeared as headliners at famed jazz clubs and festivals like Birdland in New York City; Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.; Nighttown in Cleveland; the San Luis Obispo Jazz Festival; the Stanford Jazz Festival and the Erie Blues and Jazz Festival.
Recent group highlights include performing on the main stage of Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco with French Vietnamese guitarist Ngyuen Le and accompanying vocalist Kevyn Lettau at Cafe Cordiale in Los Angeles.
After this festival, SUU’s Jazz 1 Ensemble has the opportunity to perform at the Greeley Jazz Festival in Colorado from April 21-23.
More information about featured events can be found on the SUU Arts website.
Story by: Addie Horsley
accent@suunews.net
Photo courtesy of Charged Particles
