Bluiett's IYO to debut December 30 at Union Avenue Christian Church

Via email, StLJN has been informed that the Improvising Youth Orchestra (IYO), directed by baritone saxophonist and composer Hamiet Bluiett, will have its debut performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, December 30 at Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Avenue in the Central West End. No ticket price is specified, but donations will be accepted.

It's a rather terse email that, oddly, refers recipients seeking more info to Bluiett's Wikipedia page, rather than hamietbluiett.com. Odd, because the Wikipedia page makes no reference to IYO or, for that matter, anything since that's happened since 2002.

However, said message does seem legit, and also promises that more details will be forthcoming. In the meantime, I'd guess that IYO probably involves some of the teenage musicians that have appeared with Bluiett on gigs like his free concert this summer at Ivory Perry Park, such as drummer Zack Morrow and brothers Jo’el Williams on saxophone and Joshua Williams on trumpet. Whether or not Bluiett himself will be playing as part of the IYO show is, at this point, unknown, but either way, it's good to see him passing some of his knowledge on to a younger generation.