Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Department will present "Jazz in the Night / Drum Enchanted Evening" at 7:30 p.m. May 5. The concert will feature the WCHS Jazz Band, the WCHS Percussion Ensemble and the combined Edgewood and Lakeview Middle School Jazz Band. The groups will also perform with special guest artist, David Ridenour, on guitar. The WCHS Jazz Band will perform a wide variety of musical styles, including classic jazz standards by Herbie Hancock and Dave Brubeck, as well as the music of contemporary artists like Norah Jones, Stevie Wonder and recent Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame inductees Chicago. The WCHS Jazz Band performs extensively and has received numerous accolades and honors over the years, including performances at the prestigious Elkhart Jazz Festival in 2012, 2014 and 2015, according to a press release from the WCHS Music Department. The band has also been invited to return to the festival for a fourth time in June. The WCHS Percussion Ensemble will perform pieces ranging from classical to the Latin jazz of the Pat Metheny Group. The Warsaw Winter Percussion Ensemble will perform its 2016 competition show, “Passion, Grace and Fire,” based on the music of jazz-fusion guitarist Al Di Meola. The WCHS Percussion Ensemble placed seventh at the Indiana Percussion Association State Finals in 2016. Warsaw is a five-time Indiana State Champion and has qualified for state finals 20 years in a row. The WCHS Jazz Band and Percussion Ensemble are under the direction of Mickey Ratliff. The Middle School Jazz Band is directed by Joseph Peloza. Ridenour is a guitarist, vocalist and composer from Cincinnati, Ohio. As a performer, he has appeared on stage with such artists as Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Joan Baez, The Temptations, Chuck Berry, Lee Greenwood, Johnny Rivers, Percy Sledge, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Helen Reddy, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Cincinnati Pops, the Louisville Pops and the Lexington Philharmonic, according to the press release. Ridenour’s original compositions have appeared on television programs such as "Will and Grace,” "Passions” and "Providence,” and on recordings by the jazz quintet Crackpot Theory. Ridenour earned a bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar performance from Morehead State University, Kentucky, and currently teaches and performs regularly in the Cincinnati area. Admission to the Evening is $5. Tickets are available in the WCHS Performing Arts Center ticket booth. TG’s Frozen Yogurt of Warsaw will sell yogurt in the lobby from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. and again at intermission. Yogurt cups are $4 each, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the WCHS Band program. For more information, contact the WCHS Performing Arts Department at 574-371-5037.
