Acclaimed Trumpeter and Pianist to Perform Feb. 7

On Friday, Feb. 7, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and pianist Rossano Sportiello will be the featured artists at Performance Music at The University of Scranton’s first concert of the Spring 2020 season.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. inside the University’s Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free, with seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.

A Detroit native, Kellso is the leader of New York City jazz ensemble the EarRegulars, a member of the renowned authentic traditional jazz band Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, and has performed with many of the greatest jazz musicians of the modern age.

Kellso’s recent engagements include a week in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola with Wynton Marsalis celebrating Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Hot Seven, and leading the EarRegulars at the Detroit Jazz Fest and Moab Music Fest. He made various appearances on public radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” among them a live cinecast to movie theaters everywhere with Elvis Costello. In addition, he has performed with John Lithgow at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, toured the U.S. and Japan with Ken Peplowski’s Kingdom of Swing big band, made annual appearances in jazz clubs and festivals in New Orleans, and played jazz parties, festivals and concerts all over the world.

Kellso can be heard on several TV and movie soundtracks, including “Ghost World,” “The Aviator,” “The Good Shepherd,” “Bessie,” “Mildred Pierce,” “Revolutionary Road” and “Boardwalk Empire,” for which the Nighthawks won a Grammy. In addition, he has appeared on over 100 CDs, including several with the EarRegulars and three with his mentor Ruby Braff.

Sportiello has been an in-demand musician since moving to the U.S. from Italy in 2007. He has recorded four award-winning solo piano CDs, as well as numerous jazz ensemble CDs. He has performed at iconic venues like Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Birdland, the 92nd Street Y, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Café Carlyle and Town Hall, as well as at the Chautauqua Jazz Festival, the Newport Beach Jazz Party and the Roswell Jazz Festival.

Sportiello has performed with a number of other jazz luminaries in addition to Kellso, including Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Barry Harris, Dan Barrett, Kenny Davern, Bucky Pizzarelli, Bob Wilber, Warren Vache, Bob Cranshaw, Mickey Roker, Harry Allen, Howard Alden, Joe Wilder, Eddie Locke, Joe La Barbera, Scott Hamilton, Jake Hanna, Houston Person, Bill Charlap and Dick Hyman.

For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more on Kellso, visit kellsojazz.com. For more on Sportiello, visit rossanosportiello.com.