Redbud Jazz Festival hosted by Northern Oklahoma College

Redbud Jazz Festival set for Thursday

Saxophone virtuoso Brian Gorrell and acclaimed trumpet player Lee Rucker will star in the 12th annual Redbud Jazz Festival hosted by Northern Oklahoma College on the Tonkawa campus at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $7.

The duo, currently members of the music faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma, will headline the festival, which features the big band sounds of the Redbud Festival Orchestra.

Gorrell, a former pianist for the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, is equally proficient on both saxophone and keyboards. Gorrell now serves as head of the Jazz Studies Division for the UCO School of Music and also manages operation of the Jazz Lab Recording Studio in addition to teaching several classes.

During his years as a performer, Rucker has worked with the Woody Herman Orchestra and the Louis Bellson Orchestra as a featured soloist. Since 1981 Rucker has taught at UCO, serving as the director of the UCO Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensembles I and II, Music Theatre Pit Orchestra and many smaller jazz groups.