Libba Smith
A&E Editor
Move over, Bonnaroo. This weekend at Wooster, lucky students and faculty can hear four diverse musical concerts from Wooster’s jazz bands, professors, visiting musicians and our own talented student musicians.
Tonight, three Wooster jazz bands will give a concert with special guest drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.
Under the direction of Jeffrey Lindberg, professor of music, the Tuesday Jazz Combo, Thursday Jazz Combo and College of Wooster Jazz Ensemble will all perform with Purdie.
Senior Darius Dixson, vocalist and producer of popular student band Freddie Cool, will also be featured in the program.
Purdie has a long and varied career as a musician. He began performing in 1960, but his career took off after collaborations with Aretha Franklin in 1970. Since then, he has played with artists like the Rolling Stones, Tom Jones and James Brown. He has been featured on over 3,000 albums, making him the most recorded drummer in the world. The night’s song list includes Cole Porter’s “At Long Last Love,” Roger and Hammerstein’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and George Gershwin’s “Summertime.”
The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. in Freedlander Theater.
On Saturday, Feb. 2, Frank Huang, music professor at the College, will give a solo piano recital. Huang has performed at Carnegie Hall and has won many notable international piano competitions, including the 2010 World Piano Competition and the 2007 Artists International Auditions. Huang’s performance will include pieces from Haydn, Brahms and Franz Liszt’s arrangements from Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” The performance is at 7:30 p.m. in Gault Recital Hall in Scheide Music Center.
Also on Saurday, Feb. 2, guest pianist Jeri-Mae Astolfi will perform at 3:00 p.m. in Gault Recital Hall.
Astolfi serves on the governing board of both the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association and PianoArts, a North American piano competition, festival and fellowship organization. Her latest recording, “Here (and there): Music for Piano and Electronics,” is scheduled to be released later this year.
Finally, on Sunday, Feb. 3, the Tri-County Honors Band and Scot Symphonic Band will perform a joint concert at 2:30 p.m. in McGaw Chapel. All performances are free for College of Wooster students and faculty.