BEMIDJI, Minn. – Bemidji State University’s Jazz I will conclude its spring tour with a Celebration Concert as a season finale and in recognition of Jazz Appreciation Month at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 26, in the Thompson Recital Hall of the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for students.

The music
Jazz I, under the direction of Dr. Steve Konecne, will pay homage to the legendary bassist and composer Charles Mingus by performing two of his compositions, “Fables of Faubus” and “Better Get Hit In Your Soul.”

Also included from the legacy of jazz history composition will be “Lover Man,” which has had classical recordings by Billie Holiday and Charlie “Bird” Parker. Lead alto saxophonist John Konecne, a senior music education major from Bemidji, Minn., will be the featured soloist on this Sammy Nestico arrangement. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s composition “Anthropology” will feature solos by Andy Cresap on trumpet, sophomore music major from Minot, N.D., and Therese Haugen on baritone saxophone, a senior double major in business administration and music from Cass Lake, Minn.

The tour
Prior to the Celebration Concert, Jazz I will tour the Iron Range region of northern Minnesota, playing six concerts in three days for high school audiences. The tour dates are:
• April 21: Grand Rapids High School, 8:30 a.m.; Chisholm High School, 2 p.m.
• April 22: Virginia High School, 9:15 a.m.; Eveleth-Gilbert High School, 2 p.m.
• April 23: Hibbing High School, 8 a.m.; Cass Lake High School, 12:30 p.m.

In Virginia, music students from Virginia and Mesabi East high schools will both attend the concert and a jazz clinic presented by Konecne and Jazz I to allow for more interaction with the students.

Jazz I gives several public performances each year, including the fall Remember When Dance and the annual BSU Jazz Festival.

Jazz Appreciation Month
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History established April as Jazz Appreciation Month honoring jazz as a national and world treasure. In 2003, the U.S. Congress passed a law commending the Smithsonian’s efforts to recognize this beloved art form. Today, the Smithsonian promotes jazz celebrations across the nation through its Smithsonian Jazz Web site at http://www.smithsonianjazz.org.
For more information, contact the Department of Music at (218) 755-2915.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
April 26 – 7:30 p.m. – Jazz I Celebration Concert presented by Bemidji State University. Location: Thompson Recital Hall of the Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex, BSU campus. Admission: $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for students.