The Clark State Performing Arts Center will welcome jazz great Graham Breedlove to the Turner Studio Theatre on Friday, September 14.
“This is going to be a really fun event,” said Adele Adkins, executive director of the Clark State Performing Arts Center. “We are bringing in a trumpet player and jazz singer. They will be joined by a local jazz group Collective Trio. We will transform the Turner Studio Theatre into a jazz club with tables.”
Since taking up the trumpet at age 12 in his hometown of Lafayette, LA, Graham Breedlove has performed on four continents in more than 20 countries, with headliners representing more than 100 Grammy nominations. Graham is listed in the book Trumpet Greats, which is “a biographical dictionary of famous trumpeters since the Baroque Era” by noted educator/author/trumpeter David Hickman.
Breedlove is a trumpet soloist with the Army Blues jazz ensemble, part of The United States Army Band, "Pershing's Own" in Washington, DC, and he has appeared as a soloist, composer/arranger or lead player on seven CDs with the Army Blues. Graham also appears as musical director, soloist and composer/arranger on “Voodoo Boogaloo” and “Back to the Bayou,” critically acclaimed recordings by Swamp Romp, a Louisiana-music group comprised of members of the Army Blues.
In an effort to promote jazz, Breedlove has presented clinics, masterclasses and appeared as a guest soloist at colleges and universities across the country, and he has served on the faculties of Towson University, Catholic University of America and the National Jazz Workshop.
Breedlove holds the Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University, the Master of Music degree and Performer's Certificate from Indiana University and has studied with world famous masters David Baker, Alvin Batiste, Byron Stripling and Stephen Burns. He is an endorsing artist for TrumCor mutes and plays their hand crafted mutes exclusively.
An Evening of Jazz with Graham Breedlove and Special Guest: award-winning vocalist Lucy Breedlove will take the stage at 8 p.m. at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Avenue in Springfield. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com.