North Central College hosts Hot Jazz-6 Cool Nites concert series July 21-27

Jazz vocalists and recording artists Janice Borla, Jay Clayton and Peter Eldridge headline the 25th annual Hot Jazz-6 Cool Nites concert series July 21-27 at North Central College.

Performances will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 21, and Tuesday through Friday, July 23-26, in North Central’s Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets for each of the five performances are $20/adults and $15/students and senior citizens. The series concludes at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 27, with a concert featuring student performers from Borla’s annual Vocal Jazz Camp. Tickets for this show are $10/adults and $5/students and senior citizens. For tickets, call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.

Each evening of the concert series features a different combination of musical selections and artists, including trumpeter Art Davis, vibraphonist Brad Stirtz, pianist Dan Haerle, bassist Bob Bowman and drummer Jack Mouse as jazz instrumentalists. These artists also are the faculty for Borla’s 25th annual jazz camp, a weeklong educational workshop; visit janiceborlavocaljazzcamp.org to learn more about the camp.

Borla’s recordings and performances have earned her consistently high praise for her beautiful sound, adventurous repertoire and imaginative improvisations. Her latest CD, “From Every Angle” was named one of the Best CDs of the Year by DownBeat Magazine. A recognized pioneer in vocal jazz education, Borla established the vocal jazz program at the Saskatchewan School of the Arts in Canada. She is a member of North Central College’s acclaimed jazz faculty and is the College’s director of vocal jazz.

Clayton (left) is an internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer and educator whose work boldly spans the terrain between jazz and new music. She has recorded with Steve Reich, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Cage, Bobby McFerrin, Jane Ira Bloom and many others and is cofounder of the acclaimed improvisatory vocal quintet Vocal Summit. Her latest CD, “The Peace of Wild Things,” showcases her personal style, using her solo voice and innovative use of electronics. Clayton is a faculty member at the New School in New York City and Peabody Institute in Baltimore.

Eldridge (right) is new to the jazz camp faculty this year. He is perhaps best known as cofounder of the double Grammy-winning ensemble New York Voices, with whom he has recorded and toured for the past 25 years. He also has worked with Bobby McFerrin, Michael Brecker, Meredith Monk and Fred Hersch, among many others. His newest CD, “Mad Heaven,” showcases his talents as composer and lyricist. Eldridge is head of the jazz voice faculty at Manhattan School of Music.

North Central College offers a major and minor in jazz studies, one of some 55 undergraduate programs at the College. Visit northcentralcollege.edu/majors/jazz-studies to learn more.

This year’s camp, July 21-27, is open to all participants from age 14 through adult. Tuition is $650; housing and meals are available for an additional $300. For more information and to register for the Janice Borla Vocal Jazz Camp, visit janiceborlavocaljazzcamp.org or call 630-637-5560.

The underwriting sponsor for the concert series is Main Street Promenade, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts, 90.9fm WDCB Chicago’s Jazz & Blues, Shure Microphones and The Naperville Sun, a Chicago Sun-Times publication.