Jazz Ensemble to hold memorial concert

Baldwin City, Kansas — The Baker University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of professor of music J.D. Parr, will host the Chris Grubb Memorial Jazz Scholarship Concert at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 30, at Rice Auditorium. The concert is free and open to the public.

Donations will be collected at the door to contribute toward the Chris Grubb endowed scholarship that is presented each year to a retuning saxophonist from the ensemble. It is given in the memory of Chris Grubb, who died in an automobile accident in 1985 while a student at Baker.

This year’s concert features guest conductor Frank Perez and pianist/composer Addison Frei and the Baker University Chamber Singers, under the direction of Cathy Crispino. A 2014 graduate of the prestigious University of North Texas Jazz Studies program, Frei traveled with the six-time Grammy-nominated UNT One O’Clock Lab Band to headline the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, California, and can be heard on Lab 2013. While at North Texas, he performed with prominent jazz artists including Christian McBride, Mike Stern, and Peter Erskine.