DPU Jazz Ensemble in concert with special guest performer Paul White, GMS Jazz Band Wednesday

Sunday, April 23, 2017
DePauw Jazz Ensemble will be joined by guest saxophonist and composer/arranger SSG Paul G. White, along with the Greencastle Middle School Jazz Band, this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium at DePauw University’s Green Center for the Performing Arts.
Courtesy photo

The DePauw Jazz Ensemble will welcome composer/arranger SSG Paul G. White to the Green Center for the Performing Arts in a joint concert conducted by Steve Snyder this week at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 26.

Also making an appearance on the Kresge stage will be the 30-member Greencastle Middle School Jazz Band.

The focus of the evening’s repertoire will be on pieces arranged by White and will also feature him on tenor sax.

The program covers a wide range of moods from an adaptation of “Träumerei,” a 19th-century Franz Schubert composition, to a pop-influenced piece, “My Patience,” composed by Pete Rodriguez and arranged by White.

Wednesday’s guest artist became infatuated with music at a very early age, but White’s eclectic musical education really began with his exposure to John Coltrane during his first years of college at Appalachian State University. Soon after he began to realize the potential for expression within this art form and fully committed himself to the study of good music, with an emphasis on jazz.

After completing his bachelor’s degree, White went on to attend graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin, where he began to study more specifically jazz saxophone and composition, and after finishing his master’s in composition and moved into the doctoral program at UT-Austin.

“Paul and I were doctoral students together at the University of Texas,” recalled Snyder, director of jazz studies at DePauw. “In addition being an outstanding saxophonist, he has always been a great writer. During our time in school I had the opportunity to play a lot of his work, and after being in touch through the years, I am thrilled to have the chance to make music with him again.’

White has also performed with and had the privilege of writing for many national level artists such as Joshua Redman, Aretha Franklin, Peter Erskine, Butch Miles and Wayne Newton. He has played with various groups all over the world and is the founding member of the Paul White Quintet, which has performed in several annual jazz festivals.

In 2008, Paul was awarded the position of baritone saxophonist with the U.S. Army Field Bands Jazz Ambassadors. As a member of the band, he has been featured on “The Colbert Report” and was part of the Kennedy Center Honors dedication to Dave Brubeck. Since becoming the band’s staff arranger, his original work, “Just Improbable,” was featured on the BMI New Works for Big Band Showcase Concert in New York.

White continues to compose and perform with local ensembles in the Washington D.C./Baltimore area while also traveling across the country giving concerts and clinics.

His four-day residency at DePauw continues Thursday with an evening of quartet music at Jazz at The Duck, when Kenny Phelps (drums), Joel Tucker (guitar) and Steve Snyder (organ) will accompany him from 8:30-10:30 p.m. at The Fluttering Duck, located inside The Inn at DePauw at 2 W. Seminary St.

General admission to the joint DePauw Jazz Ensemble and Greencastle Middle School Jazz Band Concert is $5. Tickets for seniors, youth and all students are free. To obtain advance tickets online, visit www.music.depauw.edu.

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