The American River College Jazz Ensemble performed a tribute to the music of Quincy Jones on March 13 in the ARC theater.

Jones was a jazz musician who performed mostly in the 1960s and 70s, winning a total of 26 Grammys over the course of his career and composing music for 33 major films.

The ARC Jazz Ensemble has also performed other tribute concerts in the past to jazz artists including Ray Charles and Duke Ellington.

The group performed a total of 11 songs that Jones either composed himself or that he arranged with other jazz legends like Frank Sinatra.

These included the theme songs from famous TV series “Sanford and Son” from the 1970s, “I left my heart in San Francisco” and “The Quintessence” from the 1960s.

“Quincy (Jones) is one of the founding fathers of modern music,” said Dyne Eifertsen, director of the jazz ensemble and a music professor at ARC.

“He’s a guy who wears a lot of different hats in the music industry, he’s done film scores, television scores, just about every every medium out there,” said Eifertsen

The ensemble performed a Latin ensemble where they performed songs like “Dedication” by Wayne Wallace, and “Mas Que Nada” by Jorge Ben.

“The kids who are going here are very fortunate because of the quality of teachers like Joe Gilman. This is my fifth semester (here at ARC) and I’ve really enjoyed it,” said trumpet player Joe Berumen of the band’s performance.

“I think all the kids are really great, the talent seems to be getting better and better,” said Berumen.

ARC is currently only two out of 112 community colleges in California to offer an A.A. degree in jazz studies.

The jazz ensemble held this concert as part of their 2014 spring concert series, and the next ensemble performance will be held on May 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the ARC theater.