Boardman High jazz fest to feature four ensembles

Staff report

BOARDMAN

The 17th annual Boardman High School Jazz Fest will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Boardman Performing Arts Center, 7777 Glenwood Ave. It will feature all four of Boardman’s jazz ensembles. Boardman alumnus Joe Graziosi will be featured on saxophone with one or two of the bands. Admission is $3 ($2 for students; free for seniors and children).

The 8th Grade Jazz Ensemble from Glenwood Middle School will begin the performance with “Comin’ Home Baby” and Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4.” BHS Jazz Ensemble 3 will take the stage next with a program that includes “Topsy” and a vocal rendition of “On Broadway.”

Jazz Ensemble 2’s set will include “Route 66,” with vocals, and also “Now What” and “Birdland.”

Ensemble 1, the top group in the school’s jazz program, will lean toward Latin jazz with selections such as Chick Corea’s “Spain,” Louis Prima’s “I Wanna Be Like You” and Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia.” The music of Maynard Ferguson, Bob Mintzer, Charles Mingus, and Harry “Sweets” Edison also will be featured.

Jazz Ensemble 1 will perform at Packard JAM Fest on April 6 and at the Jewish Community Center on May 25. The high school ensembles will present another concert June 2 in the BHS cafeteria.