Alper’s Young Musicians Big Band of talented 9- to-16-year-olds will perform at the Jazz Forum Sunday, Dec. 11, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the community room at the Christian Institute, 1308 Second Street in Santa Monica. Enter through the alley between Second and Ocean, on the south side of Arizona. Entry and parking are free. This swingin’ 12-piece ensemble performs classic Big-Band repertoire (Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway) and newer tunes by Joe Zawinul, Brian
Setzer, Miles Davis, Henry Mancini and Horace Silver.
The instrumentation is two trumpets, four saxophones, two clarinets and flute. The group is particularly thrilled now that a dad has also joined the group. “What a wonderful experience for a young player to be in a band with his dad,” says Director Gregory Alper. “It’s inspiring to see young musicians passionate about jazz.”
Founder of the Alper Music School Pacific Palisades, Greg has enjoyed a four-decade career performing, recording, composing for film and teaching young musicians. He composed the music for the original Warcraft video game, and earlier spent years in the New York studio and gig scene. He cut one of the seminal jazz-fusion albums, Fat Doggie, in the late 1970s, which was recently re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Alper also leads the annual Children’s Music Workshop Honors Orchestra Jazz Band in concert at Schoenberg Hall at UCLA. The televised event has garnered three Emmys. In addition to leading the jazz ensemble, Gregory Alper Music School offers private instruction on saxophone, clarinet, flute, guitar, piano, bass, improvisation and composition. Contact: (310) 454-0160 or alper@alpermusic.com.
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