Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:11:45 -0500
From: Forrest Greenslade
Subject: Jazz
Central Carolina C.C. hosts Heart of Carolina Jazz concert
By Katherine McDonald
News & Feature Writer
Central Carolina Community College
PITTSBORO – Jazz takes center stage when the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra and special guest artists perform at the Fearrington Barn, in Fearrington Village.
The concert takes place 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. Sunday, March 22. Admission is free. Central Carolina Community College’s Continuing Education Department in Chatham County is sponsoring the event.
“The northeastern portion of Chatham County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state of North Carolina,” said Carl Thompson, the college’s director of Continuing Education in Chatham. “Our goal is to familiarize this area with the college and inform them of what we have to offer. Hopefully we can lay the groundwork through events like these that will result in establishing a solid educational program designed to meet the needs of this area.”
The Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, a 19-piece big band, directed by Gregg Gelb, will feature guest artists Jerald Shynett, Alexander Brower and the Heart of Carolina Jazz Sextet.
Gelb, saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and bandleader, is the director and founder of the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra and Society. He started it in 1990, while a visiting artist at Central Carolina Community College. He teaches Introduction to Jazz online for Central Carolina Community College. He also plays with the Gregg Gelb Swing Band, North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra and, occasionally, with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. In 1997, Gelb received the Jazz Fellowship Award from the N.C. Arts Council. He has a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts, and a DMA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Jerald Shynett is a trombonist who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is soloist with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra
Alexander Brower is vocalist who makes special appearances with jazz rchestra performing the music of Arthur Prysock, Billy Eckstine, Duke Ellington, and Ray Charles. Alexander is also publisher of the Hometown News Magazine and President of the Lee County NAACP.
The Heart of Carolina Jazz Sextet, is a small group of the Jazz Orchestra featuring Howard Smither on trumpet; Ann Woodward, bass; Bill Falconer, piano; along with a few orchestra members.
To reserve your seat for this concert, please call 1-800-682-8353 Ext.7268
For more information on the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, visit its website: www.carolinajazz.com/ http://www.carolinajazz.com/. For more information on Continuing Education programs at Central Carolina Community College, visit the college’s web site, www.cccc.edu http://www.cccc.edu/, and click on “Continuing Education,” in Chatham County contact Thompson at (919) 542-6495 or mailto:, or call (919) 542-6495, ext. 228.