Westmont Ensemble Celebrates Joy of Jazz

A dozen student musicians will perform songs from jazz legends Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Sergio Mendez, Tommy Flanagan and others in a free concert Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel. The Westmont Jazz Ensemble is under the direction of Westmont Instructor John Douglas.

Douglas is a pianist, songwriter and composer whose performing credits include tours with the Pointer Sisters (1983), Donald O’Connor and Eddie Fisher (1979-81), as well as performances with Aretha Franklin (Santa Barbara Bowl 2005) and Dizzy Gillespie (1978).

The ensemble studies the jazz idiom, including the art of improvisation, and perform both on and off campus. The musicians include Ariana Bilek and Jonathan Palmquist on drums, Matt Blois and Alexandra Nguyen on bass guitar, Paul Bump on trombone, Eben Drost on piano, vocalists Ariel Dyer and Erik Rodkey, Jeff Hsiao on alto saxophone, John Ortberg on guitar, JB Vasquez on tenor saxophone and Jon Wilcox on trumpet.

For more information, please contact Helen Park in the music department at (805) 565-6040.