Jazz Week features top local, national players

Internationally known bassist-bandleader Rufus Reid will headline a roster of top local and national players for UIndy’s eighth annual Jazz Week, which runs Monday through April 11.

Presented by the university’s Jazz Studies program, the series of nightly concerts also features local jazz giants Steve Allee and Mark Buselli.

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center’s Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. Admission prices vary. Tickets and more information are available at (317) 788-3251 or www.uindy.edu/arts.

The week’s schedule is:

Monday, April 6 – UIndy Jazz Combo
Admission: Free
Student combo performs jazz and American pop standards.

Tuesday, April 7 – UIndy Jazz Ensemble
Admission: Free
Student big band performs classic swing repertoire, with the audience invited to dance onstage.

Wednesday, April 8 – Pianist Steve Allee
Admission: $20; $10 for seniors; free for ages 18 and younger and for all college students with ID
A longtime Indiana jazz scene leader with a national reputation, pianist-composer Steve Allee has written and performed for syndicated radio programs, motion pictures and network television shows including NYPD Blue, Mad About You and Friends. He has released several albums as a bandleader, most recently the trio recordings Dragonfly and Colors. He also serves as music director for the nationally syndicated comedy-variety radio program The Bob and Tom Show.

Thursday, April 9 – Saxophonist Danny Walsh and trumpeter Mark Buselli
Admission: $20; $10 for seniors; free for ages 18 and younger and for all college students with ID
Trumpeter Mark Buselli is one of central Indiana’s leading jazz performers and educators, best known locally as the director of jazz studies at Ball State University and a leader of the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra. New York City-based saxophonist Danny Walsh, known for his unusual proficiency on both tenor and alto sax, has recorded several albums as a bandleader and with fusion drummer Lenny White. The two collaborated on Buselli’s 2014 album Untold Stories.

Friday, April 10 – Drummer Tim Horner
Admission: $20; $10 for seniors; free for ages 18 and younger and for all college students with ID
A graduate of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Tim Horner has been a fixture on the New York City jazz scene for more than three decades. His professional career began with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and has included performances around the world with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Dave Liebman, Hank Jones and George Mraz. He has been a regular substitute with the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and an instructor at New Jersey City University.

Saturday, April 11 – Bassist Rufus Reid
Admission: $20; $10 for seniors; free for ages 18 and younger and for all college students with ID
In his half-century career, bassist and composer Rufus Reid has played on more than 400 recordings and has performed with Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Burrell and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, among other notables. He currently leads the trio Out Front and performs with larger ensembles at such venues as the Kennedy Center. His latest album is 2014’s Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project. He also is known as a jazz educator and author of the definitive instructional book The Evolving Bassist.