Duneland.com > News & Announcements > Sandoval, Count Basie Orchestra Highlight 25th Jazz Fest

Sandoval, Count Basie Orchestra Highlight 25th Jazz Fest

January 21, 2010

Jazz legends Arturo Sandoval and the Count Basie Orchestra will headline the 25th annual Valparaiso University Jazz Festival, scheduled for April 5 to 10 in repeat performances at the Midwest’s largest non-juried jazz event. In addition to the two nationally-respected jazz artists, the University’s faculty and student ensembles, other guest artists and jazz bands from Northwest Indiana schools will participate in the Valpo Jazz Festival.

Arturo Sandoval (Photo: Manny Iriate)

To celebrate the milestone 25th anniversary of the event at Valpo, Union director and festival organizer Larry Mosher says two of the biggest names in the jazz genre will take the stage in separate headline events.

“We want to make this a festival to remember for the students and the community,” Mosher says. “There are many jazz festivals in this region that don’t have two artists of this caliber in the same event, so this is a wonderful opportunity for region jazz lovers.”

Cuban-born Arturo Sandoval, a protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, is world-renowned for his performance on the jazz trumpet and flugel horn, and as a classical artist, pianist and composer. He has won four Grammy awards, six Billboard awards and an Emmy award. Sandoval’s versatility can be heard on recordings with artists as diverse as Gillespie, Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka and Rod Stewart. He has performed with Celine Dion at the Oscars, John Williams with the Boston Pops and in the Super Bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.

The Count Basie Orchestra, a 16-to-18 piece big band, became one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era under the leadership of Count Basie. The band survived a decline of big band popularity in the 1940s and went on to produce collaborations with singers including Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald in the 1950s and 1960s. After Basie’s death in 1984, the band continued to perform under the direction of some of the players he had hired, and is now directed by former trombonist Bill Hughes. The band continues to tour and release new recordings including “Basie is Back” in 2006. The Count Basie Orchestra also produces notable collaborations, such as with singer Ray Charles in the 2006 album “Ray Sings, Basie Swings.”

Count Basie Orchestra (Photo: Armond Bagdasarian)

“There is nowhere else in the region where people can see a festival like this,” Mosher says “No one else in this area brings in this kind of jazz talent and highlights regional high school jazz ensembles.”

Sandoval will perform at 8 p.m. April 7 and the Count Basie Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m. April 10 in Harre Union. Tickets for each are $25 for the general public and $18 for senior citizens and Valpo alumni.

Other concerts during the Jazz Festival, all held at Harre Union are:

• April 5 – Several Northwest Indiana high school jazz bands and the Indiana University South Bend Jazz Band will perform at 6 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.


• April 6 – The Valparaiso University Jazz Ensemble, an auditioned “big band” student ensemble that plays traditional and contemporary jazz, will perform with several Northwest Indiana high school jazz bands at 6 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.


• April 8 – Jerry Bergonzi, an internationally-recognized jazz tenor saxophonist, will join the Valparaiso University Jazz Ensemble in a performance beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for the public and $10 for senior citizens and alumni.


• April 9 – Bergonzi will join Valpo’s Faculty Jazz Trio – Billy Foster, Bruce Evans and Jeffery Brown – for a performance beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for the public and $10 for senior citizens and alumni.

Tickets for all performances will go on sale March 1 online at http://valpo.edu/union/tickets, and also will be available March 15 at the Harre Union Welcome Desk. The desk is staffed from 8:30 a.m. until midnight. Mastercard, Visa and Discover credit cards are accepted, as well as checks.

The University’s Jazz Fest is sponsored by the Post-Tribune, Heath and Oncology Services Inc. and Chase Bank, with support from the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission and Friends of Valpo Jazz.