Jazz Ensemble to Perform Concert of Big Band Favorites
KEENE, N.H. 11/7/05 - The Keene State College Jazz Ensemble, directed by KSC artist-in-residence Don Baldini, will perform an evening of Big Band favorites on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth age 17 or younger. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.
This Big Band showcase features the music of Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, and many other favorites. Jeffrey Holmes, a University of Massachusetts music professor, is the featured trumpet and piano soloist. Walpole School music director Walt Sayre returns to solo on trombone.
Holmes, professor of music and director of jazz and African-American music studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is a nationally published and commissioned composer/arranger. He has written music for Ernie Watts, Max Roach, Yusef Lateef, Doc Severinsen, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and numerous works for military, college, and high school/junior high school jazz, concert, and marching ensembles. He currently directs the award-winning UMass Jazz Ensemble I and Studio Orchestra. He performs with the classical ensemble Solid Brass, the New England Jazz Ensemble, the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, and his own big band.
In addition to conducting the KSC Jazz Ensemble, Baldini directs the KSC Chamber Orchestra. He came to Keene State after a professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He appeared for 13 years with the “Tonight Show” Orchestra and toured with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, and the Harry James and Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabakin bands. He can be heard on the soundtracks of “The Little Mermaid” and “St. Elsewhere” and broadcasts at Disney World and the Epcot Center. He currently performs with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Dartmouth Symphony, Opera North, the Keene Chamber Orchestra, and several local chamber music and jazz groups. With the Cincinnati Symphony, Baldini recently recorded the music of Nelson Riddle for a CD released on the Telarc label.
