Purdue Jazz Festival adds ‘All-Star Jazz Jam’ to 2004 line-up

An “All-Star Jazz Jam” that brings all the Purdue Jazz Festival guest artists together for a free jam session at noon on Saturday, Jan. 24, adds a lively new element to the annual festival that runs Jan. 23-25, 2004.

Drummer Sherrie Maricle and other members of DIVA, an all-female jazz orchestra, will be part of the noon jam session in Loeb Playhouse along with saxophonist Chip McNeil, pianist David Cutler and trumpeter Tom Harrell.

The jam session is just one of many events – including concerts, competitions, clinics, a jazz church service and a jazz brunch – that allow the public and student musicians to rub shoulders with performers of national renown during the 14th annual festival.

At the heart of the festival is a day-long competition on Saturday, Jan. 24 with nearly 100 big bands and combos from 46 participating schools in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

On the festival’s opening night, Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA will be featured in an 8 p.m. concert Friday, Jan. 23 in Loeb Playhouse of the Purdue Stewart Center. The event is sponsored by Purdue Convocations.

On Saturday, instrumental jazz ensembles from four states tune up early as competition stretches throughout the day in seven locations in the Purdue Stewart Center, Purdue Memorial Union and University Church. The music starts at 8 a.m. and continues through 5 p.m. It’s all free. Clinics and workshops on everything from technique to jazz history are also free and open to the public on Saturday.

The Festival Finale concert offers Cutler and Harrell special spotlights with the Purdue Jazz Band at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, in Loeb Playhouse. Cutler’s musical talent was introduced to the Greater Lafayette community when the Purdue Jazz Band premiered his new work “Jigsaw” to a standing ovation in November 2003.

Harrell, who’s been described by Newsweek magazine as a “pure melodic genius,” has been the subject of various media profiles for his refusal to let clinically diagnosed schizophrenia stop him from achieving success as a jazz trumpeter.

Related festival events include a jazz jam with Purdue musicians at Vienna Espresso on Jan. 23, performances by the Tony Zamora Jazz Ensemble at the Knickerbocker on Jan. 23 and 24; a jazz church service at University Church at 11 a.m. Jan. 25; a Jazz Brunch at Buon Appetito from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Jan. 25; and a Midwinter Jazz & Swing Dance at Jefferson High School from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 25.

Festival activities are centered around the Purdue Memorial Union and Stewart Center. For more information on Purdue Jazz Festival events, contact Purdue Bands Public Relations Director Kathy Matter at (765) 496-6785; kcmatter@purdue.edu To purchase concert tickets call (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW.