Jazz legends unite in benefit concert for FIU School of Music

FIU School of Music, in partnership with WDNA Public Radio, presents Jazz pianist and composer Steve Allee; saxophonist Gary Campbell with the FIU Jazz Quartet; and the highly acclaimed FIU quartet-in-residence Amernet String Quartet in concert on Feb. 1. Proceeds from the event will benefit the FIU School of Music scholarship fund.

FIU School of Music faculty member Gary Campbell and guest artist Steve Allee

Steve Allee will premiere new, original music composed for the occasion. This is Allee’s second collaboration at FIU with long-time friend Gary Campbell, a professor in the FIU School of Music. Their first collaboration featured Campbell’s original compositions, arranged by Allee, for a performance by FIU’s Big Band.

The benefit concert promises to integrate improvisation with the sounds of 21st century composition. Performed by a Jazz-based ensemble of saxophone, piano, bass, drums, latin percussion, and guitar, this performance will create fascinating textures, sonorities, and rhythmic interplay. The music will be shaped by the improvisation of all musicians, within Allee’s crafted compositions, giving the music spontaneity and the energy of the moment.

The synergistic performance aims to represent the progressive, interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the FIU School of Music.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center. For tickets and information, call 305-348-0495 or visit music.fiu.edu.