LOGAN – The legendary Larry Smith Kicks Band will presents its Fall Big Band Concert on Tuesday, Oct. 21 on the campus of Utah State University.
Sponsored by the USU Music Department in the Caine School of the Arts, that event is slated for 7:30 p.m. in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall.
The free concert for USU students will highlight musical arrangements by Rob McConnell and his Boss Brass Band, according to Kicks director Dr. Greg Wheeler.
The late Larry Smith was a renowned teacher for 38 years at Utah State, instructing classes in musical composition, scoring, arrangement, improvisation, music theory and jazz. He also directed the university’s two jazz ensembles.
Following his retirement from USU, Smith founded the jazz band that carries his name, declaring that it was “just for kicks.” The ensemble includes USU faculty members and some of northern Utah’s best jazz musicians.
After Smith’s passing in February of this year, direction of the Kicks Band fell to Wheeler, who explains that the band will maintain Smith’s tradition of highlighting different jazz conductors and musicians in each of its concerts.
Rob McConnell was an extraordinarily talented arranger, a lyrical trombonist and a bandleader with a reputation for perfection and artistic drive that made The Boss Brass Band a renowned ensemble in the late 1960’s.
A unique musical voice, cutting wit and meticulous leadership on the bandstand were just a few of McConnell’s trademarks.
Wheeler says that the McConnell arrangements in the Kicks Band concert on Oct. 21 will include great old jazz standards like Take the A Train, Louisiana, Just Friends, Blue Daniel and Bye Bye Blues, among others.
The concert will feature solo trombone performances by Roger Karren, Lane Weaver, Spence Jackson and Nathan Affleck, as well as trumpet solos by Nick Clark.
Also in the Kicks Band will be Andrew Stonerock and Patrick Law on tenor saxophones; Wheeler on alto saxophone; Kelin Gibbons on guitar; Jared Sounders on piano; and Danny Hankins playing drums.
Guest vocalist for the evening will be Terresa Shreve, singing some of the great standards made famous by Ella Fitzgerald and Natalie Cole.
Tickets for Kicks Band concert for the general public can be obtained by going online to ticketscc@usu.edu.
The Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall is located adjacent to the Chase Fine Arts Center on the USU campus.