The MSU College of Music has several events scheduled during its annual Jazz Spectacular.
Jazz Octets
7:30 p.m. April 16, Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium
Four Jazz Octets, conducted by jazz faculty and graduate students, blend the sounds of big band with small-group performance to open the 2015 Jazz Spectacular.
Tickets: $10, $8 seniors, free for students
Swing Dance, Jazz Orchestras
8 p.m., April 17, MSU Demonstration Hall Ballroom
MSU Jazz Orchestras, under the direction of Rodney Whitaker, with special guests: Bobby Carcassés, trumpet, vocalist, and congas, and his son, Roberto Carcassés on piano. Dance to rhythms in rhumba, cha-cha, mambo and the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Mario Bousa, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Tickets: $10, $8 seniors, free for students
Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Regional Competition
8 a.m. – 6 p.m., April 18, MSU Union, Main Lounge
High school jazz bands perform the music of Duke Ellington and other big band composers before Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians and other jazz professionals.
Free and open to the public.
Wrap-up Concert
8 p.m., April 18, Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium
Preceded by the Outstanding High School Jazz Band of the Day.
Enjoy an encore visit from guests Bobby and Roberto Carcassés as they join Jazz Orchestra I (the Be-Bop Spartans, directed by Rodney Whitaker) and MSU Professors of Jazz.
Reserved seating tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $15 for students and are available from the College of Music box office, in person at the Music Building, Room 102, 333 W. Circle Drive or over the phone at (517) 353-5340, online at music.msu.edu or at the door one hour before the show.