Johnson County Community College
Press Release

10/02/06
Story by Peggy Graham

Bill Crain Quartet Jazzes Up Halloween

OVERLAND PARK, KS.- The Bill Crain Quartet will provide a treat for jazz lovers at noon Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Recital Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, as the final performance in the free fall 2007 Jazz Series.    

Crain has been a professional woodwind artist and jazz soloist since 1973, performing on national tours or performances with The O’Jays, Temptations, Gladys Knight, Donny Osmond, Glenn Campbell, The Lettermen, Mel Torme, Glenn Miller Orchestra and Kansas City Symphony, among others. He has been the musical director of The Trilogy Band, which has had two internationally released CDs on Seabreeze Jazz Records. As leader of the Bill Crain Group, he has a new CD on Iron Jazz Recordings. The group has had appearances including the Kool Jazz Festival, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Crain has hundreds of national and regional performances as a studio musician with dozens of solo features on radio, television and CDs.

Crain has a bachelor’s degree in music education and master’s degree in music composition from California State University, Chico, and an all-but-dissertation, the doctorate of arts program, in commercial woodwinds/conducting at Ball State University.

The 50-minute concerts feature Kansas City jazz artists. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The concerts are cosponsored by the JCCC humanities and music departments, Community Services and the Music Performance Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 34-627.

For more information, call 913-469-8500, ext. 3605.