By Staff
GUEST ARTIST Alex Pershounin, bass player, will perform tonight with the MCC Jazz Band. The concert, part of the MCC Arts &Letters Series, begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Emma McCain Theater at Meridian Community College. Submitted photo
Special to The Star
Nov. 13, 2001
The MCC Jazz Band takes the stage tonight with guest artist Alex Pershounin who has performed in internationally acclaimed jazz showcases in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Germany and Estonia.
The concert is part of Meridian Community College's Arts &Letters Series.
The Montreaux International Jazz Festival and the Pori International Jazz Festival are two prominent performance sites for Pershounin. He has recorded 10 CDs on various labels and has performed with internationally recognized artists including Bob Berg, Ray Charles, Valery Ponomarev, Benny Golson, Tom "Bones" Malone and Bill Skeat.
Pershounin has given concerts with the Russian State Orchestra of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the St. Petersburg Orchestra (Russia) and many others. He is an alumnae of Russia's most prestigious musical institutions Gnessin State Music College and Gnessin State Russian Academy of Music in Moscow.
After graduation, he taught applied lessons at Gnessin State Music College and played professionally in Russia's most famous jazz band, the "MKC Jazz Big Band."
Pershounin is a graduate student and teaching assistant in the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree program at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
The MCC Jazz Band includes: alto saxophones, Adam McCree (clarinet) and Theresa Griffith (piccolo); tenor saxophone, Bill Woods, Allen Carr and Andy Rainey; baritone saxophone, C.J. Holditch (clarinet); trumpet, Ron Widener, Danny Blurton, J.B. Griffith, Lavelle Woodrick and Justin Hunt; trombone, Hank Lambert, Lee Rigdon, Bill Drinkwater, Alan Rigdon and Jennie Kratzer; guitarist, Dural "Raggy" Ragsdale; piano/conductor, Carey Smith (clarinet, soprano saxophone); piano on "Grace," Chris Jenkins; drums, Scott Kratzer; and multiple percussion, Jeremy Scarbrough.
Tonight's program will include Paul Clark's "Designated Swinger," Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Grace," by Quincy Jones and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," by Lyle Mays.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Emma McCain Theater at Ivy Hall on the Meridian Community College campus. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.