Young Tucson jazz artists to share stage with rising superstar

On Sunday, Jan. 15, the 20-member TJI Ellington Big Band will add one more name to the growing list: jazz piano phenom Matthew Whitaker.

The concert at Fox Tucson Theatre is part of the opening weekend of the 10-day 2023 festival and the performance will give the ensemble another warm-up for its upcoming bid to compete in the prestigious Essentially Ellington High School Competition in New York City. The group is vying for its ninth time in the national competition, which the group has won three times — in 2013, 2014 and 2017. In 2010 and 2012, the Ellington Big Band took first place in the Community High School Big Band category.

“It’s about getting to play a really large venue, having a real command performance for the material they are going to record (for the contest entry) and the interaction with a famous jazz musician,” said Scott Black, who owns and operates TJI with jazz saxophonist Brice Winston.

In years past, the ensemble, comprised of some of Tucson’s most promising high school jazz musicians, has played with such jazz greats as the late saxophonist Jimmy Heath, bassist Christian McBride, the late drummer Jimmy Cobb and drummer Lewis Nash.

Whitaker, 21, will be the youngest artist they’ve played with, said Black, a full-time musician whose program has taught well over a thousand kids and seen 90% of them get into music schools nationwide and at the University of Arizona, often on full or partial scholarships.

“One of the cool things about jazz is that it’s about the music and people of all ages play that together,” Black said.

The TJI Ellington Big Band is comprised of first-year members pianist Aiden Oh and saxophonist Jonas Heidebrecht, who commute twice a week to Tucson from Chandler; and ASU Digital Prep senior and trumpeter Matt Leal, who has commuted from his home in Nogales to Tucson since joining the group five years ago. Also in the group: saxophonists Ivanna Zuniga, David Nguyen, Matias Straub-Martinez and Ethan Luker; trumpets Oskar Anderson, Tomas Comesana, Mani Braitberg, Kian Sadat and Kaleb White; on trombone, Diego Jaquez, William Kroner, Aidan Schofield and Zayden Morgan; rhythm section, bassists Zeke Hirsh and Apollo Torres, guitarist Dylan Dougherty and drummer Calvin Simmers.

The Jan. 15 concert with the Matthew Whitaker Quintet at the Fox, 17 W. Congress St., starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $32.50 to $57.50 through foxtucson.com.