San Joaquin Delta College and the Division of Arts and Communication wrap up the Delta Jazz Festival on Thursday, March 21, with a Brubeck Festival event featuring the Tom Harrell Quintet. The concert will be held at Warren Atherton Auditorium on the Delta College campus, 5151 Pacific Avenue, Stockton. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $25 and $35.
 
Praised by Newsweek for his pure melodic genius, Tom Harrell is widely recognized as one of the most creative and uncompromising jazz composers and instrumentalists of our time. He is a frequent winner in Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines’ Critics and Readers Polls and a Grammy nominee. Harrell was also a Trumpeter of the Year nominee in 2010 and 2011 for the Jazz Journalists Association Awards.
 
Harrell divides his time between writing projects, live performances, and recordings, and actively tours with his quintet around the world. Recent television broadcasts of concerts include: San Javier Jazz Festival in Spain, Viersen Jazz Festival in Germany, Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel, Jazz a Liege in Belgium, and Chivas Jazz Festival in Brazil.
 
"What Harrell [does] is spin out improvisational lines filled with instant melodies. Like a lyricist who illuminates phrases with subtle internal rhymes, Harrell's soloing captivates both the hearts and the minds of his listeners."
-Don Heckman, The Los Angeles Times
 
The Quintet includes Herrell on trumpet and flugelhorn, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, pianist Danny Grissett, drummer Jonathan Blake, and bassist Ugonna Okegwo.

Delta Jazz Series Special Event

Delta Center for the Arts Horton Art Gallery continues its concurrent exhibition, The Art of Jazz, February 21 – March 21, of works inspired by the improvisational characteristics of Jazz—its distinct sound, history and culture.
 
An Exhibition Finale Reception with the Tom Harrell Quintet will take place from 5:00pm – 7:00pm on March 21, before the concert. Tickets are $100. Delta College Culinary Arts will cater the event and LoCA wines will be served. The reception proceeds benefit Concerts for Kids. The $100 price includes admittance to the reception and special seating for the Tom Harrell Quintet concert at 7:30pm in the Warren Atherton Auditorium.
 
Tickets can be purchased for the concert and for the reception online at www.deltacollege.edu (click on Delta Center for the Arts), or by calling the Delta Box Office at (209) 954-5441.
 

The Art of Jazz Exhibition

The Art of Jazz Exhibition is a visual musical experience, featuring works by ten national artists, including SJDC Ceramics Professor Joe Mariscal, and Lodi artist Jim Coston. A variety of works will be displayed: paintings, bronze and ceramic sculpture, intaglio prints, and several sculptural musical instruments, each representing the sounds of Jazz through visual art. February 21st, which is opening night, will present Jazz poet Charles Blackwell accompanied by Brian Kendrick on drums.
A grant from the Stockton Arts Commission was awarded to Delta Center for the Arts, coordinated by Gallery Director Jan Marlese, to fund the exhibition, including the commission of a new work of art and a new Jazz composition. The commissioned visual artist and composer collaborated on their production – with each other’s art form and style informing and inspiring their new creations.
 
With Delta Center for the Arts Delta Jazz Series presenting an annual Jazz Festival and several Jazz concerts each year, it was decided that the commissioned artwork would be in the form of three 11’ x 7’ panels to be displayed on stage during Jazz concerts. SJDC Art Professor Mario Moreno was commissioned to create the concert stage panels, along with three SJDC art students (Vicente Tomas, Marco Junez and Lily Dircksen) as apprentices. James Miley, Jazz musician, composer and Professor of Music and Jazz Studies at Willamette University in Portland, Oregon, was commissioned to compose an original Jazz score.
 
The stage panels premiered at the Patricia Barber Quartet concert.
 
Tickets for the reception or the concert can be purchased online at www.deltacollege.edu (click on Delta Center for the Arts) or by calling the Delta Box Office at (209) 954-5441.