Come hear the Pitt Jazz Ensemble perform as they unleash the powerful sounds of big band jazz. Joining the ensemble this year are special guest artist Don Braden on saxophone with Direcotr of Jazz Studies Geri Allen on piano, Paul Thompson on bass, James Johnson, III on drums, and John Bagnato on Guitar.

Tickets available at the WPU Box Office and at the door. Call 412-648-7814. General Admission, $10; Students $5.

Don Braden is a musician of the highest caliber. For many years he has toured the world leading his own ensembles, as a special guest, and as a sideman with greats such as Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams, Roy Haynes, and many others.  He has composed music for everything from duo to full symphonic orchestra, in many styles, for recordings (including 18 CDs as a leader and nearly 80 as a sideman), film and television, and worked several years as composer for Bill Cosby. He is also a world renowned educator, having spent nearly two decades giving master classes at countless schools and universities, and running first class educational programs such as NJPAC's Wells Fargo Jazz For Teens, the Litchfield Jazz Camp, the Jazz Studies program at Montclair State University, and the Harvard University Monday Jazz Band.  He is an imaginative, technically excellent, soulful saxophonist, and his harmonic and rhythmic sophistication give him a unique approach to improvising as well as composing and arranging. Most important of all: he has a beautiful sound, and he swings! All this combines with his joyous yet disciplined personality to make him one of the most important musicians working today.