The show is set for 7 p.m. in the center’s Jemison Concert Hall. Tickets are $42.50. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.Contemporary jazz group the Yellowjackets will star in the next installment of “The Essentials” on Thursday, Feb. 23, presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
Hosted by UAB Artist-in-Residence Eric Essix, the performance is the fifth installment of the “The Essentials,” the Alys Stephens Center’s innovative series devoted to honoring the rich history of jazz.
Essix will introduce the show and bring on the band, among the pioneers of contemporary jazz groups, for a brief Q-and-A talk about contemporary jazz. Then the Yellowjackets will take over the stage for a live performance, featuring selections from its more than three-decade history and from “Cohearance,” the band’s latest album.
The show is set for 7 p.m. in the center’s Jemison Concert Hall. Tickets are $42.50. For tickets, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.
Buy three or more tickets to any performance in the Alys Stephens Center Jazz Series and save 30 percent off the total cost. This offer is valid only online when purchasing tickets and may not be used with other offers; availability is limited. The offer expires April 12.
UAB students and faculty may purchase $25 tickets; a limited number of $25 tickets are available for each show. All UAB students, faculty and staff may receive a 20 percent discount on single tickets.
Throughout their storied 35-year history, the Yellowjackets have recorded 23 albums, received 17 Grammy nominations and won two Grammy Awards, performed countless sold-out tours, and enjoyed worldwide critical acclaim and commercial success. Over the years, the band has undergone numerous lineup changes, according to its bio, but has maintained “an extraordinarily high quality of musicianship that is the rival of many but a surprise to no one who knows and appreciates the band and its music.” Members are Russell Ferrante, William Kennedy and Bob Mintzer, with the recent addition of Australian bass player Dane Alderson. The Yellowjackets’ newest album, “Coherence,” was released in April 2016. JazzTimes said of the band, “… a perfectly combustible electric-acoustic outfit whose smart and unpredictable compositions draw from fusion, post-bop and contemporary jazz.”
The Yellowjackets will give some young jazz musicians a day to remember when they lead a clinic at 4 p.m. for students participating in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music Jazz Summit. Earlier in the day the Alys Stephens Center will present a Meet the Artist show at 10 a.m. with Mintzer and the UAB Jazz Ensemble for local schoolchildren and students at the jazz summit.