Jack Wilkins: Jazz with James Suggs and La Lucha

Saturday, September 23, 2023, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Location: Firehouse Cultural Center

Event type: Center Stage

Saturday, Sept 23 at 7:30 pm

Jack Wilkins is a professional saxophonist/composer and the Director of the Jazz Studies Program at the University of South Florida. At USF he teaches courses in jazz improvisation, jazz styles and analysis, and jazz history, teaches applied jazz performance and directs the USF Jazztet, an internationally acclaimed student jazz ensemble that has performed at many European jazz festivals.

An accomplished jazz saxophonist, Jack Wilkins has 7 CD’s out as a leader, including the newest release on Chronograph Records titled The Rundle Sessions. This follows The Banff Project, a collection of Wilkins compositions with original films by Edwin Dennis and others. Both these projects drew inspiration from time spent in the Canadian Rockies as part of artist residencies at the Banff Centre and as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Calgary. These recordings feature outstanding Canadian musicians like Laila Biali, Kodi Hutchinson and Chris Andrew as well as American recording artists Sara Caswell and Corey Christiansen.

Jack can be heard as a soloist on all of the recordings by Chuck Owen and the Jazz Surge. Jack is the featured soloist, along with guitarist LaRue Nickelson, on the Grammy nominated River Runs: A Concerto for Jazz Guitar, Saxophone and Orchestra. He can also be heard on the latest CD Whispers on the Wind, also a finalist for multiple Grammy awards.

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