NIC vocal jazz concert announced

North Idaho College will host the “Bring Your Own Beats” concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 in the Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center on NIC’s main campus in Coeur d’Alene.

The concert is free and open to the public.

The event will feature music performances by the NIC Vocal Jazz Ensemble directed by NIC Director of Choirs Max Mendez and by the NIC Jazz Ensemble directed by NIC Director of Bands Bryan Hannaford. It is the final jazz performance for the academic year.

The Vocal Jazz Ensemble will explore Latin grooves in the upcoming performance.

“So much of today’s pop music is based on the rich influence of Latin and South American music,” Mendez said. “I wanted to the group to explore some of these genres for this concert. You can’t sit still when you hear this music. I’m sure people will be up on their feet moving the entire set.”

The group will perform such classics as “Oye Como Va” by Tito Puente, “Angelina” made famous by Harry Belafonte and “Agua de Beber” by Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobi. They will also perform “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo and “Dulce Amore” made famous by Tejano singer Selena.

The NIC Jazz Ensemble will perform music combining big band swing with influences from hip-hop and funk.

“We have some music that uses the big band as a medium for music styles we hear every day in popular culture,” Hannaford said. ““The hope for this concert was to use the jazz big band instrumentation and showcase some style and sound not usually associated with jazz.”

The NIC Jazz Ensemble will start of the concert with “Street Music” by Fred Strum, which will feature improvised solos from students and community members performing on saxophone, trumpet, trombone, piano and drums.

The band will play funk tunes like “Fool Me Once” by prolific big band composer Gordon Goodwin and “Native Sons” by Jeff Jarvis. The concert will also feature “At Water’s Edge” written in Edition of Contemporary Music-style for a piece that combines jazz fusion, cool jazz and western classical music.

This concert will also include the tune “Three Hip Mice” which is a funky take on the old Three Blind Mice nursery song, and the concert will conclude with a hip-hop inspired chart called “Moon Juice” by Paul Baker.

For more information, contact NIC Director of Choirs Max Mendez at 208-769-3275 or max.mendez@nic.edu; or NIC Director of Bands Bryan Hannaford at 208-769-3258 or bryan.hannaford@nic.edu.