Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra will perform in concert Thursday, Feb. 21, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The 7 p.m. performance is presented by the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
An NEA Jazz Master and Grammy award-winning producer, Marsalis has garnered a reputation for presenting first-class shows that seamlessly combine a high level of musicianship and entertainment value, to the delight of audiences worldwide. Marsalis uses his 30-plus years of production and compositional expertise to uniquely craft each Uptown Jazz Orchestra performance. Their repertoire ranges from New Orleans street band songs, swing, bebop and the blues to modern and contemporary jazz, always giving listeners a wide-ranging musical experience. Steeped in New Orleans groove, Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra deliver the true essence of jazz. “The identity of the band has been shaped into something that is completely unique and very much New Orleans,” Marsalis said.
Tickets are $48, with $10 student tickets. ASC members may receive $10 off single tickets (limit two). UAB faculty and staff may receive $15 off single tickets (limit two). A limited number of student, member, and faculty/staff tickets are available. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.
An Inside the Arts pre-performance talk will be at 6 p.m. Local jazz experts Bart Grooms and Burgin Mathews will discuss the history of New Orleans jazz and its influence on Delfeayo Marsalis’ music. Grooms is a member of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and host of “Tuxedo Junction” on WAJH-FM. Mathews hosts “The Lost Child” radio show on Birmingham Mountain Radio, and is the author of “Doc: The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man,” about Birmingham icon Frank “Doc” Adams.
Students, faculty and guests in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music will have the opportunity to work with Marsalis as part of the 2019 UAB Jazz Summit. The summit will kick off with a clinic featuring Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, followed by the concert, which Jazz Summit participants will attend.
The Uptown Jazz Orchestra was founded in 2008 as a multigenerational ensemble of the city’s finest musicians who, through repertory performances, strive to preserve and present the essence of big band and jazz traditions. New Orleans is considered the “Birthplace of Jazz,” and these musicians are its finest ambassadors. The mission of UJO is to reach and extend jazz audiences in all communities without regard to economic class, sharing the importance of music and its history, and to motivate people of all ages to strive for excellence in everything they undertake. Through performances and clinics, UJO utilizes the power of the arts to equip and inspire the creative leaders of tomorrow.