The Denison University music department presents the Spring Jazz Weekend Saturday through Monday (April 3-5) featuring the University Faculty Jazz Quintet and the Jazz Ensemble. The weekend's events are directed by Pete Mills and feature Vail Visiting Artists trumpeters Jack Schantz and Ingrid Jensen and her group, Project-O.

Schantz will be presenting a masterclass and clinic from 1-3 p.m., Saturday (April 3) in the Burke Hall Rehearsal Space. He will be featured with the Denison Jazz Ensemble and Faculty Jazz Quintet at 3 p.m., Sunday (April 4) in the Burke Recital Hall. Faculty members playing in the quintet are Pete Mills, Tom Carroll, Guy Remonko, Doug Richeson and Tim Davis. Jensen's Project-O will perform at 10 p.m., Monday (April 5) in the Bandersnatch Coffeehouse. All events are free and open to the public.

Schantz is currently the musical director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. He has performed throughout the United States and Japan with the Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras. He has recorded two CDs with his own quartet, three with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and has appeared as a sideman on many recordings including Oscar Petereson's Christmas Album (Telarc records). As an educator, Schantz performs clinics and masterclasses at colleges and high schools throughout the region. He currently serves as coordinator of jazz studies at the University of Akron.

A native of Vancouver, Canada, Jensen left home after receiving a number of scholarships and awards to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since graduating in 1989, her life has been a whirlwind of music activities. She has rated in the top three in a number of critics polls for "talent deserving wider recognition" and has been selected by Down Beat as one of the "25 most important improvising musicians of the future." Her group, Project O, is an organ-based original jazz group featuring New York City jazz musicians Joel Frahm on tenor saxophone, Gary Versace on organ, Jon Wikan on drums and Jensen on trumpet. Their latest recordingNow As Thenis available from Justin Time records.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

Position Title

Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

Business Phone

(740) 587-8575