NSU presents 51st Green Country Jazz Festival
Published: 2018-02-26
(Tahlequah, Oklahoma) - The 51st Annual Green Country Jazz Festival returns this year March 5 at 7 p.m. in the Northeastern State University Center for the Performing Arts. The festival will feature Pat Bianchi and the NSU Jazz Ensemble with special guest Oliver Nelson Jr.
World-renowned organist Bianchi and the NSU Jazz Ensemble will perform the music of the incredible Jimmy Smith and Oliver Nelson.
Bianchi is a two-time Grammy nominated organist and winner of Downbeat magazines 2016 Rising Star Poll. He has established himself as one of the principal organists on the music scene today. When Bianchi is not leading his own trio, he performs regularly with jazz guitar icon, Pat Martino. He also continues to perform with National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Lou Donaldson.
These big band arrangements by the prolific Oliver Nelson and the king of the B3 Organ are an unrivaled unique collection of music within the vernacular of big band music, Clark Gibson, assistant professor of music said. We hope you will join us as witnessing this music in a live setting is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The Green Country Jazz Festival began in 1967 and has since brought internationally renowned jazz artists to the area for decades. It is one of the countrys longest running jazz festivals, put on by NSUs Department of Music.
Judges Jam
Prior to the Jazz Ensemble concert, the six performers will come together to jam at the NSU Jazz Lab on March 4 at 8 p.m.
Performers for the evening include Bianchi, Oliver Nelson, Jr., flutist from Indianapolis, Sanah Kadoura, drummer from Brooklyn, NY, Jeremy Thomas, drummer from Oklahoma City, James Pisano, saxophonist from Bethel College, Kansas, and Justin Copeland, trumpeter from Chicago.
Tickets for the evening performance and Judges Jam may be purchased online at www.nsuok.edu/si, by phone at 918-444-4500 or in person weekdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sequoyah Institute Box Office, now conveniently located at 300 N. Muskogee Ave., at the NSU Playhouse. Tickets will also be available at the performance Box Office beginning one hour before show times.
The Green Country Jazz Festival is a collaborative effort between the Sequoyah Institute and the NSU Jazz Studies program. The performance is partially funded by a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. The Sequoyah Institute can be reached by phone at 918-444-4500.
For more information, call 918-444-4602.