American River College’s music department will host an instrumental jazz concert directed by music professor Dyne Eifertsen at ARC’s Main Theater on Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Students from ARC’s jazz band and special guest Cooley Middle School Jazz Band will perform.
This is the first concert series for ARC’s jazz band this semester, and it will be a tribute show to Frank Foster and Benny Carter. Foster and Carter are two former jazz musicians who previously worked with Count Basie, a jazz musician studied by ARC jazz students. The ARC jazz band will play songs written by these artists at the show.
According to Eifertsen, playing music by musicians like these help students learn how to correctly play specific styles of jazz and be successful when playing during concerts.
“These are the first musicians you want to expose them to,” Eifertsen said. “Exposing them to this music and really focusing in on that, they can really dig into the topic of swing, sound and style.”
Along with ARC’s jazz band, Cooley Middle School’s jazz band, directed by Stephanie Sugano, will also perform at the concert. Eifersen says that ARC likes to invite other bands from middle schools and high schools to play these shows to give them the college level experience.
“We pick different schools from different areas,” Eifertsen said. “By inviting them to our school to play, it’s a great way to get the students exposed to American River College, and we’re hoping at some point they might choose our school as a potential college to attend down the road.”
ARC performer Daniel Cervantes, who plays the tenor saxophone, says he’s been playing for two years and is very excited to be playing in this show.
“A lot of musicians have put in a lot of hard work into making sure this concert goes well,” Cervantes said. “There are great soloists, and we have a great rhythm section—the audience is really going to see the effort and hard work that we put into making this show spectacular.”
According to Eifertsen, the music that the jazz bands will be playing was very popular during the World War II era and will make people want to get up and dance. While there will be no dancing in the audience during the concert, Eifertsen believes that the sound alone is what will get people to come to this show and enjoy the music that will be played.
Tickets are on sale now at arcmusic.ticketleap.com or can be purchased at the door on the day of the show. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for students and seniors citizens. Parking will cost $2, and will be located in Lot D.
