Jazz tunes both old and new can be heard at 8 tonight as student jazz ensembles featuring trumpet soloists take Sharp Concert Hall’s stage as part of the OU School of Music’s Sutton Concert Series.

Music to be performed includes pieces from trumpet players Maynard Ferguson and Bobby Shew, as well as compositions from the performers themselves.

“There’s [both] some standards and some original arrangements,” said Jay Wilkinson, OU jazz performance instructor and director of the jazz trumpet concert. “We’re highlighting lead trumpet players.”

The program for the jazz concert is divided into early jazz ensemble and late jazz ensembles, including chamber jazz combo pieces to be announced at the concert.

Wilkinson, who has taught as a jazz instructor for 11 years after getting both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at OU, expects to see enthusiasm from the audience with the trumpet music being performed, including the older, more standard music.

“Maybe [the audience members will] even dance to [the music] if they’re old enough.”

Performances include the early jazz piece “Danny Boy” featuring junior trumpet soloist Marc Sutton and the late jazz piece “Notorious Tourist” with soloist Wes Martin, third-year trumpet performance graduate student.

We’re featuring all of our lead trumpet players, but in particular we’re featuring Marc Sutton in the early band and me in the later band,” Martin said. “[‘Danny Boy’ and ‘Notorious Tourist’] are the two pieces that really feature lead trumpet.”

The piece “Notorious Tourist,” written by Toshiko Akiyoshi, is a ‘70s fusion jazz-inspired piece, Martin said about the music he will be performing in the second half of the concert.

“What makes [‘Notorious Tourist’] a feature really in particular is the rather high trumpet part. I think it’s just a fun piece. It’s loud and raucous … it’s something that will get the audience riled up.”

Martin said the OU trumpet program is one of the best in the nation, being ranked at the national trumpet competitions every year and having many graduates go on to get jobs performing.

“It’s pretty rare because most trumpet players aren’t playing trumpets when they’re working,” Martin said.

Another performance features a chamber jazz composition written by Anthony Nagid, a piano performance senior, titled “How Do I?”

“[The piece has] a very modern sound, and a very original work,” Wilkinson said. “It doesn’t really sound like anything else. Not that it’s not jazz, it’s very much jazz.”

Audiences can expect music that is high, fast and exciting, he said.

“[With the old music] there’s a need to sort of perform the music that established the art, so we touch on that … it’s something familiar for the audiences,” Wilkinson said. “And the new is to show the progression of the music … that it must be sustained and the art must be continued.”

Ticket Info:

Adults $8

Students, faculty, staff and seniors $5