The Dan Haerle Quartet in concert at Evangel University

Jazz master classes will be held on Wednesday afternoon

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Evangel University will welcome The Dan Haerle Quartet in concert on Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m., in the Barnett Recital Hall.

Dan Haerle is a renowned jazz pianist, and he will be joined by Brad Leali on alto saxophone, Bob Bowman on bass and Todd Strait on drums.

Along with the concert, two master classes will be hosted by the quartet, also in the Barnett Fine Arts Center, which is located just south of the Robert H. Spence Chapel, facing Glenstone Ave.

• 1 p.m. – Saxophone Master Class
• 4 p.m. – Jazz Master Class

All events are free and open to the public.

“It is an honor to have this world class group of musicians on our campus,” said Joel Griffin, director of jazz studies.

“Each one of these gentlemen represent the absolute best at their craft. They are not only great musicians, but brilliant jazz educators,” Griffin said. “I have no doubt this will be one of the musical highlights of the year here at Evangel.”

Live streaming of the concert will be available online at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/16105363.

About the Quartet

• Dan Haerle is a composer, performer, educator and ambassador of jazz piano, who has written instructional material used by thousands of musicians worldwide. He is a Regents Professor Emeritus of Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas where he taught 34 years. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Association of Jazz Education Hall of Fame. Haerle has performed with Clark Terry, Pat Metheny, Freddie Hubbard and numerous other modern jazz leaders, and has recorded multiple albums featuring his own music as well as jazz standards.

• Brad Leali is an associate professor of jazz saxophone at the University of North Texas where he teaches studio and jazz performance fundamentals. Leali performed as lead alto saxophonist for the Harry Connick Jr. Orchestra, including four years as its musical director; and he performed with the Count Basie Orchestra, earning a Grammy nomination for his solo work on “Count Plays Duke.”

• Bob Bowman is part of the vibrant jazz scene in Kansas City. Bowman is a well-known jazz educator and is currently a member of the University of Missouri/Kansas City Faculty Jazztet. His performance credits read like a veritable “Who’s Who” of jazz, playing bass for such artists as Billy Taylor, Carl Fontana, Bobby Shew, Arnie Lawrence, Joe Williams, the Matteson-Phillips Tuba Jazz Consort, the Janice Borla Group and many others. He travelled throughout the U.S. and Japan with Carmen McRae and is an alumnus of the Toshiko Akyoshi-Lew Tabackin Band.

• Todd Straight made his start in jazz in New York, playing and studying with some of the biggest names in the industry, including a tour with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd. He has since relocated to Kansas City where he became the drummer for Eldar, as well as two of the most celebrated vocalists in jazz, Kevin Mahogany and five-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson. The past ten years have been spent between the local scenes of Kansas City and Portland, OR. He continues to record and tour internationally with Karrin Allyson. He has been a part of three Grammy-nominated recordings.

A recent performance of the Dan Haerle Quartet at the January 2014 JEN conference in Dallas can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7qL7nKGVqA&feature=youtu.be.

For more information, contact the Evangel University Department of Music at (417) 865-2811, ext. 7212.

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