UIC High School Jazz Festival cancelled due to faculty strike

UPDATE:  The UIC High School Jazz Festival, including the evening concert with Randy Brecker, has been cancelled due to a strike by UIC faculty Feb. 18-19.

Grammy-winning trumpeter Randy Brecker, who has appeared with artists from Frank Sinatra to Frank Zappa, will perform at UIC.

Randy Brecker (Click on image to download larger file.)

WHAT:
Renowned trumpet and flugelhorn player Randy Brecker will perform with the UIC Jazz Ensemble in the finale of the annual High School Jazz Festival at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

WHEN:
Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:
UIC Student Center East, Illinois Room
750 S. Halsted St.

DETAILS:
The UIC High School Jazz Festival is a day of competition and workshops for high-school bands, culminating in an evening concert by a prominent jazz performer.

This year’s guest artist, Randy Brecker, has been shaping the sound of jazz, rhythm-and-blues, rock and fusion for four decades.  His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, David Sanborn, James Taylor, Steely Dan, Parliament Funkadelic, and Blood, Sweat & Tears.

His work has garnered multiple Grammy Awards, the most recent being the 2014 Grammy for best large jazz ensemble album for “Night in Calisia” with Polish composer Wlodek Pawlik and the Kalisz Philharmonic. Jazz Journal praised Brecker’s compositions as “magnificent edifices of aural architecture.”

Brecker will perform with UIC’s 18-piece Jazz Ensemble, led by Andy Baker, jazz ensemble director. UIC jazz faculty will open the concert with a short performance by Baker on trombone, Ernie Adams on drums, Marquis Hill on trumpet, Stewart Miller on bass, Dan Murphy on piano, Zvonimir Tot on guitar, and Cheryl Wilson on vocals.

“Randy Brecker is a true jazz icon and one of the most important trumpet players of the last 50 years,” Baker said. “Having an artist of this stature working with our students for two days is a creative and educational experience that they will cherish well beyond their time at UIC.”

Admission is $10 for the general public and $7 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door or online, or call (312) 996-6068.