The Faculty Jazz Ensemble will perform in concert during A WEEK OF JAZZ on Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30 pm in Kimball Recital Hall. Tickets: General admission $5, student/senior $3, available at the door approx. one hour before the performance.

The concert will include special guest Bill Watrous, trombone, and Jackie Allen, vocals. The Ensemble will perform United by Wayne Shorter, Morning by Clare Fischer, It Could Happen to You by Jimmy Van Heusen, El Bateria by Tom Larson, Stuck in the Middle With You by Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, My Man’s Gone Now by George Gershwin, I Remember You by Victor Schertzinger, and I Fall In Love Too Easily by Jule Styne.

Possessor of a beautiful tone and remarkable technique, Bill Watrous is one of the finest bop-oriented trombonists of the past 30 years. His father was a trombonist and introduced Bill to music. Watrous made his debut with Billy Butterfield and was a busy New York-based studio musician during the 1960s, working and recording with Quincy Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Johnny Richards, Kai Winding, and Woody Herman; playing in the television band for Merv Griffin’s show (1965-1968); and working on the staff of CBS (1967-1969).

After playing with the jazz-rock group Ten Wheel Drive in 1971, Watrous led his own big band (the Manhattan Wildlife Refuge) during 1973-1977, recording two superb albums for Columbia. After moving to Los Angeles in the late ’70s, Watrous continued working in the studios, appearing at jazz parties, playing in local clubs, and leading an occasional big band. He has recorded as a leader for Columbia, Famous Door, Soundwings, GNP Crescendo, and with his late-’90s big band for Double-Time. — Scott Yanow

This Bill Watrous Residency is sponsored by Nebraska Diamond and John & Laurie Tavlin


Jackie Allen, critically acclaimed vocalist, songwriter and Blue Note Recording Artist, has performed multiple tours of the US, Europe, Morocco, Brazil, China and Taiwan. She has 9 albums to her credit and a strong mid-western fan base. Her group includes guitar, piano, bass and percussion.

Allen’s greatest strength is her sheer musicality and the way in which she both frames and interprets her song. (Los Angeles Times) Utterly distinctive and even innovative…a masterpiece. It’s revelatory and sounds effortless. (Billboard Magazine) Allen’s voice is both crystalline and soulful; waxing romantic and poetic … this is four-hundred-dollar-a-bottle jazz — no cheap imitation. (Rolling Stone) Musically sophisticated and artistically daring… (Chicago Tribune)

A respected jazz educator, Allen teaches at Doane College (Crete, NE) and has taught at Ball State University (IN), Chicago Center for the Performing Arts (Roosevelt University), Elmhurst College (IL), Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee. She is frequently featured with university jazz ensembles as guest performer and clinician including DePaul University (IL), the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Lawrence Conservatory (WI), the University of Iowa, Ball State University (IN), Faenza Conservatory (Italy), Universidade Federal de Goias (Brazil) and Tainan Women’s Junior College (Taiwan). She has served multiple terms on the Board of Governors and Jazz Nominating Committee for the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards).

Jackie Allen will be featured with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic in celebration of Ella Fitzgerald’s 95th birthday at the Auditorium Theater on March 31, 2012.

More information can be found at Jackie Allen’s website: www.jackieallen.com