Dr. James F. Payne
UNK music professor, 308.865.8606 or paynej@unk.edu
Kansas City jazz trumpet/flugelhorn soloist Mike Metheny will be the featured performer with the University of Nebraska at Kearney Jazz/Rock Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, in the UNK Fine Arts Recital Hall.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will include music written for the big band with an emphasis on the 1970’s-1990’s. The music will come from the libraries of North Texas University, One O’Clock Lab Band, Bobby Shew, Steve Houghton, Berklee College of Music, Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd and others.
“The UNK Jazz Rock Ensemble brings together UNK students from Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Japan to play great music from the best professional big bands in the nation,” said Dr. James Payne, Jazz/Rock Ensemble director.
Featured soloist Metheny, who teaches and performs in the Kansas City area, is editor for Jazz Ambassador magazine. A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Metheny has degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Northeast Missouri State University.
From 1971 to 1974, he was a trumpeter in the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington, D.C., and in 1976, he became a faculty member at Boston’s Berklee College of Music where he taught private trumpet, music theory and jazz improvisation. While in Boston, he led his own jazz quartet, appearing in numerous club, concert and festival settings across New England and the U.S.
In addition to appearing on numerous jazz recordings as a sideman, Metheny has recorded seven solo albums for MCA/Impuse Records and now his own label, 3 Valve Music. Since 1983, he has been one of the few trumpeters to regularly perform on the EVI (electronic valve instrument), a trumpet synthesizer with an eight-octave range.
Membership in the UNK Jazz/Rock Ensemble is by competitive audition. Members of the Jazz/Rock Ensemble, listed alphabetically by hometown, include:
Albion– Adam Zrust, percussion
Alliance– Chance Fritzler, tenor saxophone
Ayr– Derek Gangwish, trombone
Bellevue– Adam Hotchkiss, trombone
Broken Bow– Nick Brennan, baritone saxophone
Chambers– Aaron Rowse, trombone
Grand Island– Justin Zeleski, electric bass
Holdrege– Dirk Riley, percussion
Kearney– Nikki Foster, trumpet; Aaron Graddy, alto saxophone; Spencer Hansen,
trumpet, synthesizer.
Omaha– Sarah Reeks, alto saxophone
Ravenna– Brad Bohn, trumpet and electric bass
Wayne– Jessica Murtaugh, trumpet
York– Scott Vincent, trumpet
IOWA
Red Oak– Suzanne Bochman, tenor saxophone
SOUTH DAKOTA
Canton– Jacquelyn Schneller, trombone
JAPAN
Tokyo– Jun Takanarita, percussion and acoustic piano
Hokkaido– Kozue Ebina, acoustic and electric piano
Nagoya– Taiki Takamura, electric and acoustic guitar
