The Delta State University Jazz Ensemble presents its annual fall concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Delta and Pine Land Theatre of the Bologna Performing Arts Center.The Delta State University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of assistant professor of music Dr. Bret Pimentel, presents its annual fall concert at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in the Delta and Pine Land Theatre of the Bologna Performing Arts Center.
The DSU Jazz Ensemble is a 17-piece “big band” made up of music majors and non music majors selected by competitive audition. The band is known in the community for its annual Big Band Bash fundraiser, an evening of dining, dancing and classic swing era music.
Big band jazz is characterized by tightly coordinated, high-energy playing from a large horn section made up of trumpets, trombones and saxophones, working in partnership with a powerful, driving rhythm section of keyboards, bass and drums. Individual group members often perform solos that are improvised and composed spontaneously in live performance.
The DSU Jazz Ensemble’s repertoire includes favorites from the swing era of the 1930s and ’40s, as well as more contemporary jazz styles from the ’50s to the present. This year’s concert lineup includes new and classic swing music by great composers and arrangers like Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Sammy Nestico, Lennie Niehaus, Bob Brookmeyer and Les Hooper.
The concert will feature student, faculty and community soloists. This event is free and open to the public.
