News Release from Northwestern Michigan College 1701 E. Front St., Traverse City MI 49686 Contact: Paul Heaton, 231 995-1019, email: pheaton@nmc.edu Date: March 25, 2008 News Archive

NMC Jazz Ensembles perform April 11 at Milliken

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Northwestern Michigan College will present its spring Jazz Ensembles Concert, featuring the Jazz Lab Band, Jazz Big Band and Vocal Jazz Ensemble at 8 p.m. Friday, April 11, at Milliken Auditorium.

Under the direction of Mike Hunter, the Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Big Band will present an eclectic program featuring big band dance and jazz sounds from the 1940s through the '90s. The dance selections will serve as rehearsal for a recording project later this semester: NMC's new audio recording technologies class will record the jazz bands and produce and present a CD of 1940s era music to World War II veterans at a statewide reunion planned for May 31-June 1 in Traverse City. (For more information on the reunion, contact organizer Dell Corner at 231-947-8438.)

The dance selections will include arrangements from the great dance bands of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller ("Let's Dance" and "Moonlight Serenade"), the swinging jazz sounds of Count Basie and Woody Herman ("Fun Time" and "Four Brothers"), the esoteric sounds of Thad Jones ("To You" and "Cherry Juice") to the contemporary big band writing of Jim Martin, Dean Sorensen and Gordon Goodwin of the currently popular Big Phat Band ("Play That Funky Music.")

The NMC Vocal Jazz Ensemble will be featured on two a cappella pieces, Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," and Kirby Shaw's "Joy Sounds II.” They will then be joined by a jazz combo on "Taking A Chance On Love" arranged by New York voices arranger and singer, Darmon Meader.

Tickets are $8 and $6 for seniors 62 and over and children under 12 and are available in advance through the Milliken box office, 995-1553, as well as at the door.

NMC’s jazz ensembles are composed of for-credit and non-credit students. For information about participation in the NMC Jazz Ensembles, please contact Mike Hunter.