The Blue Devil Jazz Orchestra will present Jazz in the Great Hall at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at UW-Stout.
Tickets are $5 and are available online, at the Service Center in the student center, 715-232-1122, and at the door. The Great Hall is in the Memorial Student Center.
The Jazz Orchestra is under the direction of Professor Aaron M. Durst. Sharing the stage will be the Troppo Big Band, led by Robert Heintz. Troppo Big Band is a community jazz group from Chippewa Falls composed of veteran musicians of all ages. The concert will include a variety of jazz styles.
The Jazz Orchestra membership has swelled to 34 members this semester and “the students have been hard at work preparing music,” Durst said.
Megan Erickson, of Lonsdale, Minn., is in the Blue Devil Jazz Orchestra for the second year and notes, “Getting to play music with a close-knit group of people who share my passion and love for music — that’s why I love the jazz band.”
Student Christina Scinto, of Oconomowoc, will sing George Gershwin’s “But Not for Me,” and Sam Poncelot, of Hastings, Minn., will sing “This is Me” from the movie “The Greatest Showman.”
Musical selections from the Blue Devil Jazz Orchestra will include the new works of “Knuckleball Blues” by Paul Baker and “Point, Counterpoint” by Ellen Rowe.
Troppo will follow the Jazz Orchestra and include “Take the A Train” and “Do Nothin’ Till You Hear From Me” by Duke Ellington, “Well, Get It” by Tommy Dorsey, “Tuxedo Junction” as recorded by Stan Kenton and “Scream Machine” by Mark Taylor, among other selections.
Other songs from the Troppo Big Band repertoire will include Duke Ellington’s “Such Sweet Thunder” and “Whiplash” by Hank Levy, which was featured in the movie by the same name. The song “Puente Arriba!” by Robert Skiles brings the sound of the samba to the stage, and “The Big Beat” by Greg Yasinitsky is reminiscent of the drumming style of Gene Krupa.
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Student Lukas Medin plays saxophone in the Blue Devil Jazz Orchestra.