Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker will be the featured artist at the 2016 Illinois State University Jazz Festival, Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9. Both days of the festival will feature free afternoon performances by junior high and high school jazz bands from across Illinois. All performances will take place in the University’s Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.
Trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker
Brecker will perform with Illinois State’s Jazz Ensemble I both evenings at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for faculty and staff, and $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the Center for the Performing Arts Box Office or by phone at (309) 438-2535.
The Friday evening concert will include an opening performance by Illinois State’s Jazz Ensemble II, while the Saturday evening show will feature an opening performance by the grand champion in the festival’s band competition. Jazz Ensembles I and II are conducted by Tom Marko, director of instrumental jazz in Illinois State’s School of Music.
Randy Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B, and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius, Frank Zappa, and Blood, Sweat and Tears. His jazz resume includes performances with Clark Terry’s Big Bad Band, the Duke Pearson Big Band, Horace Silver, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and numerous recordings and performances with his brother, saxophonist Michael Brecker.
For more information, visit Brecker’s website.
