Duneland.com > Calendar > May 2010 > All That Jazz Opus XXXVII at Chesterton High School

All That Jazz Opus XXXVII at Chesterton High School

Saturday, May 22, 2010 • 7 pm

Chesterton High School

This year marks 37 years that jazz education has been included in the Duneland curriculum. The Chesterton High School Music Department will be celebrating this event by bringing in four professional musicians to work with and perform with our middle and high school jazz students on the annual spring jazz concert “All That Jazz Opus 37.” The “OGD” quartet, with guest vocalist Mardra Thomas, will headline the concert this year. In addition to Thomas, the group features Reginald Thomas on piano and organ, Rick Haydon on Guitar and percussionist Marty Morrison on drums. All of the members of the group are accomplished and nationally respected jazz musicians in their own right, and their combined talents in the “OGD” quartet are sure to light up the CHS stage for area jazz enthusiasts.

All That Jazz 37 will take place in the Chesterton High School Auditorium on Saturday, May 22 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and students. Also featured at this concert will be performances by the Chesterton Middle School Jazz Band under the direction of Vincent Arizzi, and the award winning Chesterton High School Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Michael Scheiber. For additional information about this event, please contact the CHS Music Office at 983-3730.

Reginald Thomas is professor of music at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where he teaches jazz piano, education, history, theory and improvisation and directs combos, big band and vocal jazz ensemble. He is a consultant/clinician for Jazz at Lincoln Center working with the Essentially Ellington Competition and Band Director Academy. Thomas has also served on the summer faculties of several other jazz camps throughout the country including the International Association for Jazz Education Teacher Training Institute; the Birch Creek Music Center in Egg Harbor, WI; Jim Widner Summer Jazz Camps throughout the Midwest; the Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz Camp; and abroad at the Summer Jazz Academy in Chodziez, Poland.

Mardra Thomas (Vocalist/Actress) is a true and accomplished jazz vocalist with a foundation that rests secure in a variety of styles. She is heard in the St. Louis region around the county and in other parts of the world. Her sultry, satiny vocal styling has been featured with big bands, small groups and solo pianists. She performs regularly with her talented husband, pianist Reggie Thomas, with the Mardra & Reggie Thomas Jazz Ensemble, and OGD (Jazz Organ Drums Guitar). Mardra has also performed and or toured with a number of other great jazz instrumentalists. Her Big Band experiences include, the Birch Creek Academy Big Band, the Southern Illinois University Concert Jazz Band, the Jazz Edge Big Band the Jim Widner Big Band, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra and the Lincoln Senior High School Jazz Band. She has presented voice workshops for a number of college and high school bands around the country including the Birch Creek Music Center in Egg Harbor, WI, Morehouse College-Atlanta and Berklee College of Music-Boston.

Rick Haydon is a Professor of Music at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he is head of the Guitar Program and manages the recording studio. He teaches Advanced Jazz Improvisation, Rhythm Section Workshop, Private Applied Jazz Guitar, supervises the Jazz Combo System, and directs the Jazz Guitar Ensemble. Rick has served on the summer faculties of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Band Director Academy, the Birch Creek Music Center and the Jim Widner Summer Jazz Camps. Rick has been playing guitar for forty years and has studied with many of the Masters of Jazz Guitar. Among these are, Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, Pat Martino, and most recently Bucky Pizzarelli (7-string).

Marty Morrison was exposed to music at an early age by his father jazz organist and pianist Billy Morrison and has been playing the drums since he was five years old. He attended Missouri State University in Springfield and in ’93 joined the Unified Jazz Ensemble (UJE) working with groups of musicians for the National Endowment for the Arts Rural Arts Initiative Program. While performing with UJE as artists in residence he taught at Luther College in Iowa and Arkansas through the Mississippi Country Arts Council. In 2007 Morrison returned to the St. Louis area and earned his Bachelor of Music Degree at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He is currently based in the St. Louis area completing a Master’s degree in music.

Categories: Arts & Culture, Kids & Family, Live Music

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