event details
Tucson Jazz Institute | Big Ellington Band
Date:
January 6, 2024 7:30 PM
Location:
DesertView Performing Arts Center
About:
The Tucson Jazz Institute Ellington Big Band directed by John Black with assistance by TJI owners Brice Winston and Scott Black is comprised of high school musicians from the greater Tucson area and Nogales, AZ. These students are privileged to study at this award-winning community music school. John Black is a 2015 TJI graduate himself and received a full scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music. John has been directing the Ellington band now for three years. The TJI Big Band is loved for its swinging diverse and energetic sounds. They are one of the top High School Big Bands, placing in the top three, eight years in a row at the annual prestigious national Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Competition presided over by Wynton Marsalis. Tucson’s TJI Big Band was named the Best Community Jazz Band in the Annual Student Music Awards in DownBeat Magazine in five of the last ten years. The Tucson Jazz Institute teaches middle school students on Saturdays and high school students on Sundays. They study jazz improvisation in small group classes (combos) and swing-era music in big bands. TJI has about 100 students and gives many children an outlet they would not have otherwise. Over 90% of their graduates get substantial college scholarships. Their alumni attend some of the most prestigious schools in the nation including Julliard, the Manhattan School of Music, The New England Conservatory, Princeton, USC, and Swarthmore (many on scholarship) and have gone on to major careers in jazz music. To learn more about the Tucson Jazz Institute, visit them online www.tucsonjazzinstitute.com
Price:
$30