June Jazz

Legendary trumpet player and former Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen, with guest vocalist Vanessa Thomas, drummer Stockton Helbing and the acclaimed Elmhurst College Jazz Band, will headline June Jazz on Saturday, June 17.

The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and picnic baskets to this free outdoor concert, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on the Mall of Elmhurst College’s lovely arboretum campus (190 Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst, elmhurst.edu/campusmap). Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Guests are encouraged to come early, bring friends and enjoy this celebration of summer. For more information, call (630) 617-6186. This event is sponsored in part by BMO Harris Bank.

From 1962 to 1992, Doc Severinsen led the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, making it the most visible big band in America. Since the final telecast, Severinsen has continued to perform. He tours regularly with guitarist Gil Gutierrez in a quintet called The San Miguel Five, performing a mix of Latin and Gypsy jazz and standards.

Under the direction of Grammy Award winner Doug Beach, the Elmhurst College Jazz Band has performed around the world and has appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival and many others. DownBeat magazine, the nation’s leading jazz publication, named the Elmhurst College Jazz Band the 2014 Student Music Award winner in the Large Jazz Ensemble category for undergraduate institutions.