Jazz on tap at Elmhurst College event
Three-time Grammy Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Elmhurst College Jazz Band will headline Elmhurst College’s 17th annual Summer Extravaganza beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, on the college mall at 190 Prospect Ave.
The free outdoor concert is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank, with support from the Friends of the Arts at Elmhurst College.
This will be the fifth time Bridgewater has taken the stage at the college, having previously performed at three Summer Extravaganzas and the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival.
Bridgewater, who has recorded more than a dozen albums, won two Grammy Awards in 1998 for “Dear Ella,” her tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, and a third, in 2011, for her tribute to Billie Holiday, “To Billie With Love From Dee Dee Bridgewater.”
Bridgewater also is the host of National Public Radio’s JazzSet, a role she took on in 2001 after the retirement of the original host, the legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
The internationally acclaimed Elmhurst College Jazz Band, under the direction of Grammy Award winner Doug Beach, has performed around the world and twice toured Europe at the invitation of the U.S. State Department.
The band has appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Northsea Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival and many others.
Closer to home, the Jazz Band has performed at festivals across the United States, and has received outstanding ratings from such jazz greats as Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Rob McConnell, Nicholas Payton, Randy Brecker and Bob Brookmeyer.
For details, call (630) 617-3390.