Webster Groves student ensembles, U of Illinois faculty to play Friday, January 16 at The Pageant

The student jazz bands from Webster Groves High School and Middle School will join forces with members of the jazz faculty from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a concert on Friday, January 16 at The Pageant.

The announcement from The Pageant doesn't specify which UIUC faculty members will take part in the event, but the school's teaching roster features a number of musicians with significant road and recording experience. The UIUC department of jazz studies is chaired by saxophonist Chip McNeill, and the faculty also includes saxophonist Ron Bridgewater, trumpeter Tito Carillo, bassist Lawrence Gray, drummer Dana Hall, pianist Joan Hickey, trombonist Jim Pugh, pianist John Stephens, and saxophonist Glenn Wilson.

Tickets for the event at The Pageant, dubbed "Cool Nights Hot Jazz," will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. Friday, December 12 only at The Pageant Box Office and Webster Groves High School main office. For more information, call 314-962-3793 or 314-963-9094.

(Full disclosure: Yr. humble editor attended Webster Groves High School many years ago, after the cooling of the earth's crust, but before Gordon Goodwin formed the Big Phat Band. Maynard Ferguson was more the thing among band geeks then, if that helps you place it in time. Anyway, though I took a couple of music courses and played in various rock bands, I did not play in the WGHS jazz band.)