LSU School of Music’s Hot Summer Nights and Cool Jazz series kicks off today, continuing a long-running tradition that has grown increasingly popular since its inception in the ’90s. And the seasoned lineup largely proves why.
The Hot Summer Nights house band consists of Interim Director of the School of Music and School of Music and Dramatic Arts Associate Dean Willis Delony on piano, professor Bill Grimes on bass, assistant professor Brian Shaw on trumpet, and Troy Davis on drums.
While Davis isn’t an LSU professor, Delony said the Baton Rouge school system teacher is one of the best jazz drummers in the world. In addition to the group’s individual experience, their chemistry as a band has improved since the series began, Delony said.
“We’re a better band than we were years ago,” he said. “We’ve been inspired by people we bring in, we’ve been playing together now for all these years . . . that happens to any band that’s playing together for a while if they’re paying attention.”
Grimes said he began the series in the mid-1990s as a faculty recital that grew into a continuing series. Since then, the series has collected various talented guest artists to feature and has amassed a following, Delony said.
“People keep coming back,” Delony said. “Some people are at all six concerts every single year. We put the tickets on sale in May, but we start getting calls about it in March.”
Delony said a strong following of community members has bolstered the huge success of the series in the last seven to eight years.
“People in the community have just latched on to it,” he said. “They’re our biggest supporters. They’re our biggest audience.”
Grimes explained that a knowledgeable audience and the highly artistic level of the music make the series consistently successful – that and the band has a great time playing jazz. “That joy is contagious to the people in the audience,” Grimes said in an e-mail Wednesday.
The series consists of six concerts and five headlining guest artists, and the final performance will include a small chamber orchestra.
Two of these guest artists- jazz guitarist Gene Bertoncini and jazz vocalist Hilary Kole – will perform for two days straight on both June 14 and 15. Bertoncini has performed with respected artists and composers such as Benny Goodman and Wayne Shorter, while Kole recently released a compilation of piano-vocal duets that includes artists like Dave Brubeck.
“There’s colleagues we’ve met on our own travels, there’s people we’ve known for years, people we’ve just met, people we know by reputation,” Delony listed. “Every summer is different and the best thing is that it’s gotten so popular and has become more successful.”
The series will be held in the School of Music recital hall and will start at 7:30 p.m. each night. The series will run June 14 through 15, June 28 through 29, and July 12 through 13. Tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $10 for students.
 
____ Contact Austen Krantz at [email protected]