A concert at The Capitol Theater in downtown Burlington will feature the Metta Quintet, who will play a set on their own before being joined onstage by students from West Burlington High School.
“It’s going to be really special,” said Dr. Daniel Pappas, Music Program Coordinator at Southeastern Community College.
“It’s a life-changing moment (for the students). I hope it will inspire them, at the very least, to continue to love jazz. And maybe pursue this a little bit further and see where they can take it.”
The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12. It’s free and open to the public through support from SCC, the Capitol Theater, the Whitty Foundation, and the Bart Howard Foundation.
The Metta Quintet is the resident jazz quintet of JazzReach, which is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization “dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation and teaching of jazz music.”
Pappas said JazzReach worked with Burlington High School students last year. He said the program was so successful that he wanted to bring the organization in again, and he hopes it becomes an annual event.
“We really want to bring great jazz to our community, and we want to encourage the high school to play jazz and to have jazz bands,” he said.
JazzReach offers a variety of programs for schools. Last year’s program focused on the history of the blues in jazz.
This year’s program is called Poppin’. It’s about the history of Blue Note Records.
“That’s such a great way to get a glimpse of the history of jazz,” Pappas said. “They’re also going to talk about the photography and the album art, and the influence of all that kind of stuff.”
Pappas called Blue Note an iconic record company. He said most great jazz players recorded for the label at some point in their career. And he said many hip-hop and R & B artists today cite Blue Note as one of their inspirations.
The Metta Quintet will be in town for a three-day residency called Sittin’ In & Groovin’ Out. The professional musicians will rehearse and workshop with the high school musicians on Monday and Tuesday for three hours each, and will hold a final rehearsal with them on Wednesday before the concert.
Pappas said JazzReach will also provide educational programming for younger students during their time in town.
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