North Central faculty planning jazz concert
Eight North Central College faculty members, known for their work as jazz performers and recording artists, are preparing to take the stage on their own Naperville campus.
Their performance will feature arrangements, original compositions and various musical configurations, including the duet, trio, quartet and entire ensemble.
The concert is at 8 p.m. March 12 in Wentz Concert Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets, $30 and $20, are available by calling the North Central College Box Office at (630) 637-7469 or online at finearts.northcentralcollege.edu/x48381.xml.
The featured artists teach in North Central's jazz studies program. Performers are vocalist Janice Borla, saxophonist Mitch Paliga, trumpeter Doug Scharf, trombonist T.S. Galloway, guitarist John McLean, pianist Frank Caruso, bassist Larry Kohut and drummer Jack Mouse.
Borla has shared the stage with such jazz luminaries as Clark Terry, Bunky Green, Bobby Watson, Gary Bartz and Bobby Shew. She is founder/director of the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp and the Hot Jazz-6 Cool Nites concert series held annually on North Central's campus. Her 2006 release "From Every Angle" was named one of the best CDs of the year by DownBeat Magazine.
Paliga has played with such notables as Randy Brecker, JoAnn Daugherty, Vinnie Colaiuta, Fred Simon and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. He currently tours with the Lt. Dan Band, led by actor Gary Sinise. His new CD "Fall Night" was released by Origin Records.
Scharf is one of Chicago's premier jazz trumpet players and was a member of the house band on "The Late Show" hosted by Joan Rivers. He has performed with such notables as George Benson, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, Kenny Burrell and Chuck Mangione, as well as with Ray Charles, the Pointer Sisters, Aretha Franklin and Tony Bennett.
Galloway, the college's newest faculty member, is composer/arranger for the Center for Black Music Research and The Jazz Institute of Chicago. An alumnus of the Count Basie Orchestra, he also has performed with Duke Ellington, Eddie Harris, Ahmad Jamal, Aretha Franklin, Red Saunders, Stevie Wonder and John Clayton.
McLean has made appearances at clubs and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. He has performed or recorded with artists such as Randy Brecker, Jane Ira Bloom, Richie Cole, Jon Hendricks, Patricia Barber, Nick Brignola, Jerry Granelli, Marvin Stamm and Pat LaBarbera. His current CD "Better Angels" was released on the Origin record label.
Caruso spent three years as featured soloist with the U.S. Navy's premier jazz band, The Commodores, and played with jazz greats Louis Bellson, Maynard Ferguson, Randy Brecker, Ira Sullivan, Alan Dawson, David "Fathead" Newman and the Count Basie Orchestra. He is co-leader of the Massoth/Caruso Group, whose current release is "Songs from the Kingdom of Jazz."
Kohut is one of Chicago's most active and diverse bassists, performing on more than 40 albums and many film scores. He has played with such major jazz artists as Michael Brecker, James Moody, George Coleman, Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker, Kenny Werner, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mel Torme and Tony Bennett.
Mouse was the featured soloist with the U.S. Air Force Academy Jazz Band The Falconaires. He has performed with jazz artists Stan Kenton, Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Joe Williams, Carl Fontana, James Moody, Randy Brecker and the Bunky Green Quartet. His most recent recordings include "From Every Angle" with the Janice Borla Group and "Standard Procedure" with the Dan Haerle Trio.