The Battle Creek Symphony's Big Band Christmas will be led by guest conductor Scott Cowan, who also wrote several fresh holiday arrangements for the concert. It's set for 7:30 pm on Saturday, Dec 10 at W.K. Kellogg Auditorium. Faith Quashie, a young jazz vocalist who spent four years as a performer and producer with WMU's Gold Company, is the featured vocalist. Cowan has also included internationally-known jazz players like bassist John Webber, pianist Xavier Davis, and saxophonist Ted Hogarth, among others.
In a conversation with Cara Lieurance, Cowan and Quashie talk about Cowan's new arrangements of holiday favorites like "O Holy Night," and "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." He says he put "Jingle Bells" into a style-blender of tango, swing, funk and more in the concert-opener. One of the big highlights is a big band masterpiece: Billy Strayhorn's setting of "The Nutcracker Suite," originally recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1960.
Tickets and more information are available at the Battle Creek Symphony website.
