Australian James Morrison, who has performed for two U.S. presidents and the Queen of England, will join the UCF Jazz Professors for a concert Tuesday, Jan. 26, in the Visual Arts Building Auditorium, Room 132.
The concert, hosted by the UCF School of Performing Arts, will be a medley of songs decided right before the show. This technique, known as “calling tune,” is common among jazz musicians, said UCF trumpet professor John Almeida. A musical virtuoso, Morrison is adept with the piano, trumpet, saxophone, double bass and all the brass instruments.
“We don’t know how many instruments Mr. Morrison will bring to the concert. He has a steamer trunk full of instruments and you can never tell which ones he’s going to bring out,” Almeida said.
The UCF Jazz Professors are are Jeff Rupert, Michael Wilkinson, Per Danielsson, Richard Drexler, Bobby Koelble and Marty Morell. All are music faculty members at the university and active performers in the jazz industry. In addition to their solo works, together as a group they create albums that consistently reach the top 50 in the jazz charts. Most recently, their album Do That Again reached No. 6 in JazzWeek.
Tickets may be purchased in advance online or from the UCF School of Performing Arts Box Office and are $20 for general admission, $10 with a student ID, and free for students with UCF IDs. Doors will open at 8 p.m.
For more information about the UCF School of Performing Arts.