Bringing Jazz to our community
CONCERT PROGRAM
Tonight's Tunes
Tunes for tonight's show will be selected from the following:
Sandu
Cooler Joe Cool
Jitterbug Waltz
Latin Blues
Black Orpheus
Line for Lyons
Tonight's Musicians
JAY NYGAARD
Jay is a passionate, driven artist and advocate for the arts from Southern Utah. He is Executive Director of Artistic Resource for Teachers and Students (A.R.T.S.) Inc. He is an active performer in numerous other groups and projects, including 16 seasons at Tuacahn Center for the Arts Orchestra, Southwest Symphony, and St. George Jazz ensembles. In his free time when he's not composing, doodling, or chasing his dog around the house with a ukulele, he loves to work on the yard, watch movies, play games, and help his wife Tabitha with her art business: Last Chance Brass.
JARED NICHOLSON
Jared is a teacher and instructional coach dedicated to enriching and engaging students by raising the quality of arts education in Saint George. As an active performing artist, Jared places strong emphasis on tonal quality and resonance. He is versatile trumpeter, adding his expertise to various ensembles in southern Utah, including the orchestra at Tuacahn Center for the Arts, the Rebel Jazz Band, and the Southwest Symphony. When he's not making music or teaching, he can be found enjoying the outdoors cycling, hiking, camping or kayaking with his family.
Shawn Owens is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He fell in love with jazz at an early age and was influenced by Art Blakey, Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and Dave Weckl. Shawn left music behind for awhile but when he moved to Utah he found his way back to jazz, when a jazz group performing at a local restaurant didn't have a drummer and invited him to audition right then and there on the house drum set. Shawn got the gig and has been playing ever since. While Shawn's favorite genre is jazz, he's on the first call list for fill-in work (live and studio) for classic rock,country, gospel, and reggae bands.
Christian Bohnenstengel teaches piano at Southern Utah University. Praised as “a master of contrasts” (Aalener Nachrichten) and for his ability to “put the audience into a state of sheer awe” (Gmünder Tagespost), his performances have taken him all over the United States, South America, Asia, and Europe. Christian frequently performs with jazz combos and big bands throughout southern Utah, and his recordings include the albums Jazz Hands and Jazz Hands II with the Shawn Owens Project Trio. He also serves as music director for the First Fridays at Kayenta event series.
THOMAS HERB
Thomas Herb is originally from Salem, Oregon but has spent the last 15 years in Cedar City where he runs the music education program at Southern Utah University. While his list of saxophone influences run far and wide, his initial youthful inspiration came from Spyro Gyra and Maynard Ferguson. He founded the Jazz Alliance of Cedar City in 2018, and during 2020 the “JAZZcast” (currently getting 20k monthly views) was formed. He can be found performing with many local bands, including the Rebel Jazz Band, St. George All Stars, and The Shawn Owens Project, while also doing plenty of freelance work.
Our Next Performance will be
February 11th
PLEASE CONSIDER CONTRIBUTING TO THE JAZZ ALLIANCE OF CEDAR CITY!
DONATE VIA PAYPAL
DONATE VIA VENMO
All concerts are supported in part by Utah Arts & Museums, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Cedar City RAP Tax.
