A Day for Learning, a Night for Burnin'
Saxophonist Denis DiBlasio Joins JazzMn for All-day Festival, Concert

If you're a fan of big band jazz, mark February 12th down on the calendar. The JazzMn Big Band has an exciting day of music planned, culminating with a 7:30 concert at Ted Mann Auditorium with special guest, reedman Denis DiBlasio. During the day, JazzMn will be conducting a jazz festival featuring area high school jazz bands. Members of the JazzMn Big Band will be performing with the groups, and DiBlasio will offer a clinic.

Join JazzMn and Denis DiBlasio February 12th at Ted Mann Auditorium at the University of Minnesota. Also featured for the concert is Twin Cities vocalist Bruce Henry.

The evening's concert itself promises many surprises. The top band from the day's festivities will open the concert, and top soloists will also be chosen to perform with JazzMn later that night. DiBlasio will be performing the works of Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, and the Mingus Big Band, along with his own compositions.

Bruce Henry photo by Andrea Canter

In their tradition of performing big band classics, the JazzMn Big Band will pull out the stops with the Buddy Rich classic, "West Side Story", featuring drummer Joe Pulice, tenor Dave Karr and trombonist Mike Nelson. Finally, guest vocalist Bruce Henry will be singing Gordon Goodwin's Grammy-nominated arrangement of "Comes Love", backed by the Minnesota State Mankato Jazz Singers. Brian McKnight and Take 6 originally recorded the piece.

After receiving his Masters Degree from the University of Miami, Denis DiBlasio joined the big band of legendary trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, serving as Maynard 's Musical Director for five years. During this time he honed his virtuosity on the baritone saxophone and flute as well as a prodigious scat-vocal technique, and developed estimable composing/ arranging skills. His scores have been widely-published, and he has written several books on jazz improvisation and scat singing. He is currently Director of the Jazz Department and conducts the Jazz Lab Band at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

The JazzMn Big Band is a professional jazz orchestra that follows the models of classical orchestras, striving for artistic excellence. The group combines the talents of outstanding jazz musicians from throughout the Twin Cities area.

Denis DiBlasio will be the featured artist with the JazzMn Big Band on Saturday, February 12th, at 7:30 pm at the Ted Mann Auditorium. Tickets are available through the Northrop Box Office at 612-624-2345 or can be purchased online.