Trombonist Rick Simerly Joins DePauw Jazz Ensemble for Closing Concert Wednesday
April 24, 2006
April 24, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - Veteran trombonist Rick Simerly will join the DePauw Jazz Ensemble and director Randy Salman in their final concert of the academic year. Free and open to the public, the performance will take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center's Kresge Auditorium with on-stage seating. The program is presented through a grant from C.G. Conn.
Described by celebrated jazz educator David Baker as "...one of the most exciting and consistently creative trombonists in jazz today," Simerly has played in several top notched jazz bands, including groups led by Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, and Nelson Riddle. Also a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Simerly has performed with celebrated jazz artists Billy Taylor, James Moody, Slide Hampton, Rufus Reid, Jon Faddis, and Bobby Shew. Simerly has also appeared with such entertainers as Frank Sinatra Jr., Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Danny Thomas, Vic Damone, Lou Rawls, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, the Spinners, the Four Tops, and the O'Jays.
His solo compact disc, Simple/Complexity, has received rave reviews from critics and performers throughout the United 
States with Cadence magazine describing it as a "chop busting display." Simerly's latest CD, Obscurity, features Eric Alexander, David Hazeltine, Lynn Seaton, Steve Davis and Scott Wendholt.
The Wednesday evening concert will feature an intriguing and eclectic program with the event's opening half featuring the jazz ensemble on Frank Foster's "Shiny Stockings," Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa," Thomas Matta's "Eleventh Hour," and Mike Tamaro's "Smoke & Mirrors." Simerly will be the featured soloist on the concert's final three numbers, which include George Bassman's "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," the Cahn-Van Heusen chart "All the Way," and Dizzy Gillespie's masterwork "A Night in Tunisia."
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