Naperville Big Band Jazz Festival

Bryan Miller

Suburban -- 040115 Naperville Jazz Fest PHOTOWith an impressive line-up and a fantastic venue, the first annual Naperville Big Band Jazz Festival promises to be an exciting and ambitious addition to Naperville’s already rich musical landscape.

On Saturday, April 11, three nationally renowned jazz artists, an iconic Chicagoland big band, and numerous high-power local school jazz ensembles will all unite in the world-class concert venue of Naperville’s Wentz Concert Hall.

The festival’s culminating event will be a 7:00 PM concert hosted by Naperville’s own Pete Ellman Big Band and headlined by a formidable trio of “A-List” horn players—stratospheric trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, Dave Mathews Band sax man Jeff Coffin, and West coast trombone artist Andy Martin. Each will perform with the Pete Ellman Big Band, and all three will come together for a world premiere piece commissioned specifically for the festival by prominent jazz composer Tom Kubis. It’s appropriately titled, This is Going to be Way too Much Fun.

Starting at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and leading up to the evening concert, local high school jazz bands will enjoy the thrill of performing in Wentz Concert Hall and receiving a big band clinic from Wayne Bergeron, Jeff Coffin, and Andy Martin. Capitalizing on Naperville’s vibrant downtown, the Naperville Big Band Jazz Festival is also providing participating schools with the unique real-life opportunity for their jazz combos to be featured performing for diners at a number of local eateries throughout the afternoon.

Founded in 2009 as a nonprofit organization with the mission of preserving big band music and providing educational outreach to school music programs, the Pete Ellman Big Band has quickly risen through the ranks of Chicagoland’s jazz elite. Its roster is stacked with a number of prominent Chicagoland jazz artists, many who are also music teachers. In addition to recent performances for WGN TV and a number of local school music programs, the band’s swinging sounds are featured every Thursday night at Mullen’s in Lisle. As part of the band’s ongoing educational outreach, a school jazz band is featured performing an opening set. The students get to experience a real “jazz gig” environment—and then hear how the pros do it, up close and live. The band also frequently supports fund raising activities for other local area civic, charitable, and arts organizations.

Music is the family business for band founder and trumpeter Pete Ellman. In addition to fronting his own band, he has enjoyed performance engagements ranging from local shows to Lynyrd Skynyrd. He also served in the United Air Force and Air National Guard Band Program, performing all over the world. His father was also a band leader and the patriarch of Ellman’s Music Center, which has been Naperville’s “go to” music store since 1958 and among the festivals sponsors.

Tickets for the evening concert are $25.00 and may be purchased at the Wentz Hall Box Office, by calling 630-400-8361, or online:  http://tickets.noctrl.edu/selectseats_ichart.php?chart_id=1469&s_id=1248&p_id=86213

School performances and clinics begin at 8:00 AM in Wentz Hall and are free and open to the general public.

 

Participating Jazz Bands (as of 3/22):

Naperville Central High School

Naperville North High School

Nequa Valley High School (2 bands)

Waubonsie Valley High School

West Aurora High School

East Aurora High School

Bolingbrook High School

Hinsdale South High School (2 bands)

Leyden High School

Gemini Middle School

Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage

 

Contributing Sponsors (as of 3/22):

The SECA fund…City of Naperville

Ellman’s Music Center

Yamaha Corporation

WDCB Radio

Positively Naperville – local newspaper

School of Performing Arts

Pete Ellman Big Band