Jazz aficionados will have two opportunities to take in performances by talented student musicians.
The Southern Jazz Combos will perform at 6 p.m. Friday, April 17, at Gusano’s Pizza, 3929 E. Seventh St.
Three student combos will offer a variety of selections from the jazz idiom including “Four,” “Impressions,” “Work Song,” “All of Me” and many other jazz standards. Vocalists Brooke Henry and Bailey Park will be featured, singing jazz greats such as “Days of Wine & Roses,” “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” “My Favorite Things” and others.
The performance is free and open to the public; however, advanced reservations are encouraged by calling the restaurant at 417-623-9090. Be sure to request seating near the jazz combos.
The Southern Jazz Orchestra will offer its spring concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in Webster Hall’s Corley Auditorium at Missouri Southern State University.
Carl Knox
Under the direction of Dr. Phillip C. Wise and Freddie Green, the jazz orchestra will perform a variety of big band jazz music, including “Black Orpheus,” “Blues in Hoss Flat,” “Red Dinger,” “I’ll Remember April” and “I Hope in Time a Change Will Come.” Vocalist Bailey Park will perform “Satin Doll,” “Fever” and “Blue Moon.”
The concert will also feature guest artist and saxophonist Dr. Carl Knox, who serves as director of jazz studies at Central Connecticut University.
Knox’s performance career has included numerous appearances with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on clarinet and saxophone. He has also made countless appearances in concert and tours with famed artists such as Doc Severinsen, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, Bobby Shew, Mel Torme, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis and the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. He regularly performs with the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, the River City Saxes and his own group, the Carl Knox Quartet.
The concert is free and open to the public.