[Trombone-l] Brass Arts Quintet to hold Mardi Gras Celebration Concert, February 24, 2009

[Joshua Hauser]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
FEB. 24 MARDI GRAS CONCERT BY TTU¹S BRASS ARTS QUINTET
TO BENEFIT ORGANIZATION ASSISTING NEW ORLEANS MUSICIANS
 
            COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 17, 2009) ­ Want to celebrate Mardi Gras
in Cookeville by helping out traditional jazz musicians in New Orleans whose
livelihoods were impacted by Hurricane Katrina?
 
            The Tennessee Tech University Brass Arts Quintet will be in
concert at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in the Wattenbarger Auditorium of
the Bryan Fine Arts Building.
 
            The concert is free and open to the public, but an opportunity
will be provided at the show to donate to Sweet Home New Orleans, a
non-profit agency that provides housing, financial, performance and other
assistance to New Orleans musicians.
 
            ³The idea for a Mardi Gras benefit concert for New Orleans
musicians came about almost by accident,² said Joshua Hauser, trombone
professor at TTU and a member of the BAQ.
 
            ³Last year, the Brass Arts Quintet scheduled a performance on
Mardi Gras ‹ and included no jazz on its program,² he said. ³A couple of
days before the performance, we realized the opportunity we¹d missed, so
this year, we purposely scheduled our concert on Mardi Gras.²
 
            This year¹s program will also include some traditional brass
band and New Orleans-style jazz numbers. The show will feature works by
Scott Joplin, as well as Civil War brass band music and traditional New
Orleans tunes like ³Just a Closer Walk With Thee,² ³When the Saints Go
Marching In,² and ³Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?²
 
            According to Sweet Home New Orleans¹ report, music bookings in
the city are down by nearly half since Hurricane Katrina and average wages
for musicians are down by 18 percent, while the cost of living has risen
more than 10 percent.
 
            In addition to Hauser, TTU¹s Brass Arts Quintet includes Greg
Danner, horn; Winston Morris, tuba; and Charles Decker and Chris McCormick,
trumpets. McCormick also serves as director of jazz studies at TTU.
 
            Several special guests will join them for portions of the show.
Those guests include alto and soprano saxophone professor Phil Barham and
students Matt Tidwell, drums; Roy Adams and Kyle Chaulk, trumpets; and
Weston Demonbreun and Joey Blackwell, trombones.
 
-30-
 
CONTACT: Tracey Hackett, 931/372-6328
(H-C, local media, UCP)
 

______________________________________________
Joshua Hauser, Associate Professor of Trombone
Box 5045
Department of Music and Art
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, TN 38505
931/372-6086
jhauser at tntech.edu 
http://iweb.tntech.edu/jhauser
http://www.tntech.edu/brass/trombone
Trombones at Tech new CD Project!!
http://www.tntech.edu/publicaffairs/rel/2006/dec06/music.html
http://www.tntech.edu/publicaffairs/rel/2007/march07/trombones.html