Northwest jazz ensembles to perform spring concert, festival to feature Vine Street Rumble

The sounds of jazz music will fill the Northwest Missouri State University campus during the next week at a concert featuring University jazz ensembles and the Department of Fine and Performing Arts’ annual Northwest Jazz Festival, which will feature a Kansas City jazz orchestra.

All of the performances are free and open to the public.

“This is an excellent opportunity to catch performances from fantastic guest artists, University musicians and exceptional public school students,” Dr. William Richardson, a professor of music and conductor of the Northwest Jazz Ensemble, said. “We are grateful for funding from the Missouri Arts Council, the Northwest College of Arts and Sciences, and the Northwest Department of Fine and Performing Arts for their financial support to make this important event happen.”

The Northwest Jazz Ensemble, pictured during a concert last fall, will perform Feb. 13 and Feb. 17 in the Charles Johnson Theater. (Photo by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

The week opens with Northwest’s Studio Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble performing a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building. The program will feature a celebration of American music from a variety of styles.

Then, Northwest hosts its annual Jazz Festival on Friday, Feb. 17, with 33 middle school and high school ensembles set to perform. Festival performances begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day in the Charles Johnson Theater as well as the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom and the Mary Linn Auditorium at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

In addition to a performance by the Northwest Jazz Ensemble at noon, Vine Street Rumble will headline the festival with a performance at 5 p.m. Both ensembles will perform in the Charles Johnson Theater.

Featuring some of Kansas City’s top musicians, Vine Street Rumble recreates the city’s jazz legacy founded at 18th and Vine. The musicians perform the swing music of Count Basie, Jay McShann, Andy Kirk and the 12 Clouds of Joy, Harlan Leonard and His Rockets, Mary Lou Williams, Joe Turner and the world-famous boogie-woogie piano master Pete Johnson, among others.

A schedule of middle school and high school ensembles and jazz combos performing at the Northwest Jazz Festival is provided below. Large jazz ensembles and jazz combos from schools in Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska will perform in 25-minute time slots. Each jazz ensemble performs for three adjudicators who provide comments and assign ratings in addition to working with each group on stage after their performance.