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Jazz Ensemble Concert set for Nov. 29

By November 14, 2017

The Delta State University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Bret Pimentel, associate professor of music, will present its annual fall concert at 7:30 p.m. on  Nov. 29 in the Jobe Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

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 — composed spontaneously in live performance

The DSU Jazz Ensemble’s repertoire includes favorites from the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as more contemporary jazz styles from the 1950s to the present.

This year’s concert lineup includes new and classic jazz music by great composers and arrangers like Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Bob Mintzer, Louie Bellson, and Frank Mantooth.