Big Stage, Big Guest From The Big Easy For USU Jazz Opener

Jazz concerts at Utah State University have traditionally been known for enthusiastic crowds and hot music. This year, students performing in jazz ensembles based in the department of music have something big planned — a big stage and a big-name guest artist.

Louisiana native Graham Breedlove will bring his sizzling trumpet and that irresistible New Orleans “thang” to the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan for a jazz concert with USU’s jazz ensembles, said Jon Gudmundson, director of jazz studies at USU. The concert is Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 7:30 p.m. USU student ensembles performing include the USU Jazz Orchestra, directed by Gudmundson, and the USU Jazz Ensemble, directed by Todd Fallis.

 

Tickets are $5 for the public and are available at the Ellen Eccles Theatre Box Office, 43 South Main, Logan, (435) 752-0026. USU students are admitted free with valid USU ID.

 

“This guy is the real New Orleans deal,” Gudmundson said. “I spoke with him by telephone and found that he is currently performing a series of concerts in and around New Orleans, even though he is now based in Washington, D.C., with the Army Blues.”

 

Breedlove was born and raised in Lafayette, La. He went on to study at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, from which he often escaped to New Orleans to play in the French Quarter in various bands, he said. Following graduation, he worked in the Crescent City, soaking up the powerful influences of the most musical of environments for another year before traveling to study jazz with legendary teacher David Baker at Indiana University.

 

Following his two years of study with Baker, Breedlove won the jazz trumpet chair in the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble. The Army Blues is the top jazz ensemble among the U.S.  Army bands, Gudmundson said. It performs mostly in the Washington area, traveling only to the most prestigious jazz festivals in the United States and around the globe, representing the country by performing the great American art form — jazz — to listeners the world over.

 

Among the pieces Breedlove will perform with the USU Jazz Orchestra is a piece he composed, NOLA’s Lament/NOLA’s Return.

 

“‘NOLA’ refers to New Orleans, Louisiana, and the piece is in two parts, reflecting a traditional New Orleans funeral — mournful and respectful at the outset, jubilant and celebratory at its conclusion,” Gudmundson said. “The symbolic message of the piece is that even under water that reached to the rooftops, the spirit, will and joie de vivre of Louisiana’s people will not be broken. Recovery is far from complete and will take years, but NOLA will return.”

 

In addition to the selections performed by Breedlove, the Jazz Orchestra will perform some classic jazz pieces, including Tom Kubis’ gorgeous setting of When You’re Smiling, Randy Brecker’s Some Skunk Funk and Duke Ellington’s theme song Take the ‘A’ Train, Gudmundson said.

 

“I have to play something by Ellington’s band each concert,” Gudmundson said. “One time in my life I played a concert that didn’t have an Ellington song, and the show didn’t go as well as I wished. So now playing a tune associated with Duke has become a good luck charm, of sorts, for me — like a coach who wears his lucky socks on game day. Besides, everyone loves Ellington, especially me, and we could play a different Duke Ellington song every concert and barely scratch the surface of his great body of work.”

 

The Eccles stage will be shared with the USU Jazz Ensemble.

 

“We’ll kick off the year with a variety of great jazz standards,” said director Fallis.

 

An overview of selections includes Gillespie’s Manteca featuring guest artist Breedlove and an upbeat arrangement of This Could be the Start of Something Big and Jeff Steinberg’s Blues Down Below.

 

The ensemble will also perform several arrangements by noted jazz players that include trombonist John Fedchock’s (of Woody Herman’s band) Night Shades, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval’s Closely Dancing, featuring student Jonny McBride, and trumpeter Carl Saunders’s Contention, featuring students Anthony Aronovici and Mark Quintero on trombone. The Jazz Ensemble concludes with the barn burner, Friday Night at the Cadillac Club.

 

By bringing Breedlove to Logan as a guest artist, Gudmundson hopes to keep New Orleans in everyone’s thoughts. In his recent telephone conversation, Gudmundson asked Breedlove how New Orleans is looking now, just more than a year following the terrible devastation of hurricane Katrina.

 

“He said it’s still very bad there,” Gudmundson said. “He was calling from an area where there was just a single grocery store to serve a 50-square-mile area, so many people are still relying on drop-off points established by relief agencies to get food and other necessities. Graham is clearly affected by the state of affairs there, and he is afraid that New Orleans and southern Louisiana and Mississippi are moving off the radar screen of many Americans. One way he feels he can help to keep New Orleans in Americans’ thoughts is by bringing some of its music to the people.”

 

Contact: Jon Gudmundson (435) 797-3003, gudmundson@hass.usu.edu