April 20, 2017
New Arts Jazztet spring concert is Sunday
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The New Arts Jazztet, a top-flight ensemble made up of Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty musicians, presents its spring concert on Sunday, April 23.
The concert begins at 3 p.m. at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 1501 W. Chautauqua St., Carbondale. Admission is free.
The jazz group will perform an entire program of Professor Phil Brown’s compositions in honor of his upcoming retirement from SIU Carbondale’s School of Music, as well as a tribute to his career and his contributions to the New Arts Jazztet.
Selections will include many older favorites as well as a new work for the occasion. The concert is presented as a part of Jazz Appreciation Month. The month was created by the Smithsonian Museum of American History and is officially celebrated worldwide every April. This is the 16th year of the Jazz Appreciation Month campaign.
The New Arts Jazztet (NAJ) was formed in 1984 among several School of Music faculty and has been in residence from that time. The group has recorded on three CDs, all released by Brown, the bassist, who joined the faculty in 1991. The most recent, CD, “Arkadia,” released in October 2014, found its way onto the national Top 50 Jazz chart for radio airplay for a number of weeks in early 2015.
Current NAJ members are Brown, Dick Kelley, reeds; Bob Allison, trumpet; Isaac Lausell, guitar; Mel Goot, piano, and Jimmy Beers, drums.
Additional background information, including member biographies, is available at http://cola.siu.edu/music/ensembles/faculty-ensembles/new-arts-jazztet.php.