Joel Ross to Perform with University Jazz Band

The University of Scranton Jazz Band will take the stage Friday, May 9, with renowned vibraphone player and percussionist, Joel Ross, joining them as the evening’s guest soloist. Presented by Performance Music at The University of Scranton, the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center, Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis.

Ross will also offer a free vibraphone masterclass for percussionists ranging from students (ages 16 and older) to professionals on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the Houlihan-McLean Center. Percussionists wishing to attend should email music@scranton.edu or call (570) 941-7624 for more information. (Younger students may attend accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.)

At the concert, the University’s student jazz ensemble will perform a variety of works that prominently feature Ross on vibraphone/percussion. Performance Music Conductor and Co-Director Janelle Decker said, “I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Joel this past fall semester when he was a guest performer with Scranton Brass Orchestra. Joel is someone who has a really down-to-earth and cool ‘vibe,’ pun intended, and we are delighted to feature him on our program this spring.”

Chicago native Ross, a New York Coty-based Blue Note artist, has earned widespread renown as the most exciting new voice on his instrument, the vibraphone. More than a commanding improviser, he is a bracingly thoughtful composer and a bandleader. Ross auditioned for and won a spot in the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet where he studied under former SFJAZZ Collective vibraphonist, Stefon Harris, for two years. A graduate of Stockton’s University of the Pacific, Ross went on to study jazz at The New School where he formed his band Good Vibes. Ross has toured with the Marquis Hill Blacktet, in which his vibraphone was the primary comping instrument. Ross made his recording debut as a leader on his album “KingMaker” in December 2016 and it was released on Blue Note Records in 2019. That same year, Ross recorded his second album as a leader, “Who Are You?”

The University of Scranton Jazz Band is a 21-member ensemble of big band style instrumentation, made up of University student musicians from majors spanning the curriculum. They perform five or more times per year, and the majority of their performances are open to the public, free of admission charge, and often feature a nationally or internationally renowned guest soloist. The primary focus of Performance Music at The University of Scranton is its student choral and instrumental performing ensembles. Because there is no music major at Scranton, all enrolled students (undergraduate and graduate) are eligible for membership in the University bands, choirs, string ensembles, and steel drum band, with neither an audition nor enrollment fee required for membership. Hundreds of students participate in the ensembles each year.

For further information on the concert, call 570-941-7624, email music@scranton.edu or visit scranton.edu/music. For more info on Ross, visit iplayvibes.com.