Jazz series will open this week, feature guest artists

LSU’s Hot Summer Nights and Cool Jazz concert series summer 2012 season is packed with an impressive lineup of guest performances including appearances by Hilary Kole, Gene Bertoncini, Rick VanMatre and Clarence Johnson III.

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in the LSU School of Music Recital Hall, Dalrymple Drive on campus.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students with a student I.D. card.

The Hot Summer Nights Band kicks off its season on Thursday and Friday, June 14-15, with guest vocalist Hilary Kole and guitarist Gene Bertoncini.

Kole is known for her sultry ballads, and Bertoncini has collaborated with such jazz musicians as Buddy Rich, Wayne Shorter, Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne and Nancy Wilson.

On Thursday, June 28, the band will be joined by multifaceted saxophonist, Rick VanMatre.

VanMatre also is a clarinetist, conductor and director of Jazz Studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has recorded as a jazz saxophone soloist and performed with such artists as John McNeil, Bobby Shew, Bertoncini, Tim Hagans, Rosemary Clooney, the Duke Ellington Orchestra led by Mercer Ellington and the Woody Herman Orchestra directed by Frank Tiberi.

The Friday, June 29, performance will change gears and showcase the Hot Summer Nights Band.

Band members are:

• Trumpeter Brian Shaw is an assistant professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at LSU and is co-principal trumpet of the Dallas Wind Symphony. He also is a prominent Baroque trumpeter.
• Bassist Bill Grimes began the Hot Summer Nights series in the mid 1990s, initially as part of a summer faculty recital.

He’s watched it grow into a successful and usually sold-out group of six concerts. Grimes has completed 28 years on the faculty at LSU, and is now holds the E.D. White endowed alumni professorship.

• Drummer Troy Davis has an impressive list of credentials in the jazz idiom, including performing with jazz vocalist Betty Carter, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and recently with jazz legend Ahmad Jamal. He has played on many of the film scores for director Spike Lee, and has toured the world playing with artists at the highest level.
• Pianist Willis Delony is both a classical and jazz musician and professor in addition to wearing many hats at the LSU School of Music.

The Hot Summer Nights Band will be joined by guest saxophonist Clarence Johnson III of New Orleans on Thursday, July 12.

He has performed and recorded with Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Gladys Knight, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis Quintet, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, to name a few. He serves on the music faculty of Morehouse College as the principal woodwind instructor, symphonic band director and professor.

The concert on Friday, July 13, wraps up the 2012 season, featuring Steve Masakowski on guitar, vocalist Sasha Masakowski and a chamber orchestra.

For tickets, call [phone] or visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/248573. Tickets also will be sold at the door.

LSU School of Music