They can’t be absolutely sure, but Dubois Chamber Music thinks its next concert may be a
historic event: The first performance of live improvisational jazz in the remote Western town.
Improv jazz is not the same as dance-band jazz, where performers read their notes off a page of music. With improv, the band chooses a tune and each member, in turn, improvises using the basic rhythms and chords to create entirely new sounds.
The concert will take place at 3 PM on Sunday, August 17, at the Headwaters Center in Dubois, featuring the Ben Markley trio.
All three performers are regulars on the Front Range scene in Colorado, and Markley himself is not only chair of the music department at the University of Wyoming but also professor of jazz studies.
Despite the image of Dubois as a genuine “cowboy town,” residents have shown enthusiasm for classical music over the past five years, filling venues to capacity at Dubois Chamber Music concerts.
“It will be fun to see how many of us are just as hungry to hear live jazz,” said DCM President Lois Wingerson.
For those unfamiliar with jazz, or jazz lovers who want to learn more, Markley is offering a talk about how jazz works. It will begin a half-hour before the performance, at 2:30 PM.
Markley’s music already had a debut in Dubois in May, when Dubois Chamber Music sponsored the world premiere of his jazz string trio, performed by the Helios String Trio.
Besides Markley, who is a pianist, the performers are Seth Lewis on string bass and Brian
Claxton on drums. Lewis, an instructor of music in Jazz Studies at Colorado State University, has toured with The Glenn Miller Orchestra and played in The Lion King on Broadway. Claxton, who teaches at the University of Northern Colorado, has released 3 records and appeared on 30 others.
Tickets cost $20 or $15 for people over age 65 or under age 18. They can be purchased online at www.duboischambermusic.org or at the door before the concert.
Dubois Chamber Music concerts are supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, and in part by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature.
Sponsored post paid for by Dubois Chamber Music.