Purdue News

November 6, 1998 Purdue concert highlights Louisville jazz group WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A free concert by Purdue University's jazz bands on Monday, Nov. 16, also will feature the Ron Jones Quartet and its Louisville, Ky., blues-infused jazz. The 8 p.m. concert by the Concert Jazz Band, the Lab Jazz Band and the Ron Jones Quartet will be at the Purdue Memorial Union North Ballroom. The quartet also will play from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Bean Cellar in the Sweet Shop Grill, Purdue Memorial Union. Jones learned to love jazz in his childhood while taking music lessons in New Albany, Ind., from Jamey Aebersold, famed saxophonist and manufacturer of play-along records. Jones, a native of Kentucky, received a full music scholarship and graduated cum laude from Florida A&M University. He has performed with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Foster Brooks, Wynton Marsalis, The Temptations and many others. Jones now is a private saxophone instructor in Louisville. Other band members are Tyrone Wheeler on bass, Todd Hildreth on keyboards, and Ray Rizzo on drums. During his relatively short career, Wheeler has performed with such jazz notables as Cab Calloway, Little Anthony, The Drifters, Buddy Rich, Slide Hampton, and many others. He is a jazz bass teacher at the University of Cincinnati. Drumming since the age of 10, Rizzo's roots are in the drum corps. He played with the Mount Vernon Guard in Washington, D.C., and skipped school to accompany the guard across the eastern United States and twice to Ireland. Rizzo also is a member of the band King Kong. Hildreth played piano at the Montreaux Jazz festival in 1988 with the Bellermine Jazz Trio. He joined King Kong in 1993, and he has toured the United States on Lollapalooza and other Kong tours. He has played with Love Jones, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Platters, The Shirelles, and The Coasters. For more information on Ron Jones and the Louisville jazz scene, Internet users can visit the Ron Jones Web site at www.ronjonesquartet.com. The award-winning Purdue University jazz bands are recognized among the top collegiate jazz bands in the country. They are the Purdue Jazz Band, the Lab Jazz Band and the Concert Jazz Band. Membership in all these organizations is by audition. Students of similar abilities are grouped together to optimize the educational and performance experience. The Purdue Jazz Band and the Lab Jazz Band are directed by Marion "Mo" Trout. Kurt Gartner directs the Concert Jazz Band. CONTACTS: Trout, (765) 494-3957; e-mail: AmyBrandfo@aol.com; or Gartner, (765) 494-4689; e-mail: cageymusic@juno.com Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page