West Virginia University’s jazz musicians will take the stage at Morgantown’s Metropolitan Theatre for a free concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.

School of Music faculty directors John Posey and Curtis Johnson and graduate student Alex Heflin will lead combos large and small through a varied program of jazz. The jazz groups will be joined by trumpeter Craig Fraedrich and the WVU Steel Band, under the direction of Michael Vercelli and graduate assistant Mitch Greco.

The concert begins with two pieces by WVU Steel Jazz, fusing pieces from the steel drum repertoire with additional jazz instrumentation. They’ll play “Aliens” by Allan Thomas and “Dee Mwa Wee” by Andy Narrel.

The Gypsy Project will play Charles Trenet’s “La Mer,” followed by the Joe Jancura Band offering student composer Andrew Humbert’s “Summer Swing.” Das Trio will play “Sky Turning Grey (for Elliott Smith)” by Brad Mehldau. DUEL (Revisited) will perform “Nostalgia in Time’s Square” by Charles Mingus.

The afternoon wraps up with several numbers by WVU’s Large Jazz Ensemble, with Fraedrich as featured soloist. The ensemble will play “Us” and “Three and One” by Thad Jones, “Nica’s Dream” by Horace Silver, and “Ain’t it Wonderful?” by Tom Kubis.

Fraedrich has performed as a featured jazz trumpet soloist with the Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, one of the nation’s premier full-time jazz ensembles, also serving as the group’s musical director. He has composed or arranged over 75 pieces for the band. He’s also enjoyed a significant solo career.

The concert is free and open to the public.

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CONTACT: David Welsh, WVU College of Creative Arts
304.293.3397; David.Welsh@mail.wvu.edu

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