Friday, October 25, 2002

WILMINGTON, NC – The Cape Fear Jazz Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7, in Kenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. General admission is $5, $2.50 for UNCW faculty and staff and free for UNCW students with a valid ID.

The Cape Fear Jazz Orchestra was established is spring 2002 to perpetuate the music of composers and arrangers from the Carolinas. The group’s Nov. 7 concert will feature the music of South Carolinian John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie.

Born in Cheraw, S.C., Gillespie was a renowned trumpeter and bandleader as well as an influential jazz musician. Among his compositions slated for the performance are Manteca, A Night in Tunisia, Con Alma and Things to Come. The work of Thelonious Monk, another Carolina composer, will be featured include along with local musician/composers Benny Hill, Bob Russell and Jerald Shynett.

The Cape Fear Jazz Orchestra is comprised of some of the finest musicians in the region including several faculty from UNCW’s Department of Music (Chris Ackerman, Frank Bongiorno, Steve Morgan, Bob Russell, Jerald Shynett, Larry Suvak and Bill Warren). After a successful debut during the UNCW Summer Jazz Workshop in June, the group performed in September for WHQR, the local public radio station.

For more information, contact the UNCW Department of Music at 910/962-3390. A photo of the group is available to download from the Web at www.uncw.edu/news/headlines/oct/20021025-03.html.