Contact: David West (west@alpha.nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

2/1/2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - Fans of good music can hear three days of outstanding trumpet performances at the Second Annual Trumpet Extravaganza at Northwestern State University Feb. 4-6.

The event will start with a performance by Ray Vasquez Sunday Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. He will be joined by the NSU chamber Orchestra.

Vasquez is a faculty member at the University of Minnesota-Duluth and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota. He earned a bachelor's degree at NSU in 1994 and a master's at the University of North Texas.

In 1997, he won the Master's Division of the National Trumpet Competition. Vasquez was also chosen to be an associate member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony.

Mike Williams of the Count Basie Orchestra will appear with the NSU Jazz Orchestra Monday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Williams joined the Count Basie Band in 1987. He travels with the band approximately 30 weeks a year. The Count Basie Band has performed in all 50 states and 34 countries.

A 1980 graduate of NSU, Williams was a band director in Shreveport for three years and attended the University of North Texas before joining the Basie Band. Williams was also the lead trumpet with the Glenn Miller Band.

Williams has performed with many legendary performers including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Lena Horne and Dizzy Gillespie.

Tickets are on sale at for a Feb. 6 concert featuring jazz legend Maynard Ferguson. The concert will be at 7 p.m. in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium. Ferguson will perform with his Big Bop Noveau Band. General admission tickets are $10. NSU students are admitted free.

Ferguson and his group draw on bebop, straight ahead jazz, funk, swing, classical and contemporary music to create a fresh sound within the classic big band form. His talents take Ferguson far beyond "trumpet player" as he is an accomplished instrument designer, record producer, composer, educator/clinician, symphonic guest artist and soundtrack artist. Ferguson is a three-time Grammy nominee and a consistent winner in the Down Beat and Playboy Jazz Poll.

The recording of "Gonna Fly Now" from Rocky catapulted Ferguson onto the pop charts with a top 10 single, a gold album and one of his three Grammy nominations in 1978.

For more information, call (318) 357-4522.

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