BAJA Heats Up the Season with 'Jazzy' Holiday Music

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 13, 2010) − The Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors bring "A Jazzy Holiday Concert" to the University of Kentucky campus this month. The concert, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15, at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall. The Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors will perform under the direction of Raleigh Dailey.

The Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors are a popular performing ensemble affiliated with the Bluegrass Area Jazz Association, a nonprofit organization committed to the promotion of jazz education and the performance of jazz in the Bluegrass area. The group is comprised of musicians from the community, both professional and amateur, as well as students from UK Jazz Studies.

This 18-piece big band, which came together in 2004, performs under the direction of Miles Osland, artistic director, and Raleigh Dailey and Mark Clodfelter, musical directors. The Jazz Ambassadors' leadership also serves on the faculty of the UK School of Music. Osland is a professor of saxophone and director of UK Jazz Studies; Dailey is an assistant professor of jazz studies; and Clodfelter is an associate professor of trumpet.

To listen to the Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors and Broadway star Laura Bell Bundy perform "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" from the CD "I'll be home for Christmas," visit online at www.uky.edu/PR/For_Journalists/08LetItSnow.mp3.

To find out more about "A Jazzy Holiday Concert" featuring the Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors, visit the ensemble's website at www.bajazz.org or contact the Singletary Center for the Arts ticket office at (859) 257-4929.