Paducah, KY (January 9, 2017) – The popular jazz group, Todd Hill Quintet, returns to the Clemens Fine Arts Center at West Kentucky Community and Technical College for the Backstage Pass concert series January 21 at 7:30 p.m.
“The Backstage Pass audience gets an up-close view of the band with a listening-room, intimate concert setting, and our audiences really enjoy this series because they can be so close to the performers,” and said Brian Heller, Clemens Fine Arts Center director. “This group is one of the most talented and popular jazz ensembles in western Kentucky, and they had an overflow audience when they last played Backstage Pass in 2012.”
Todd E. Hill is director of Jazz Studies at Murray State University. He directs the Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Band, Jazz Lab Big Band, three Jazz Combos, and teaches courses in arranging, musicianship, music education and jazz history. As a free-lance pianist, he has performed with Doc Severinsen, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and many more.
The Todd Hill Quintet features Hill at the piano and on vocals, Derek Jones on clarinet, tenor saxophone and vocals, Andy Brown on acoustic and electric guitar, Scott Thile on string bass and Dean Hughes on drums.
The group plays jazz standards and standards from the “Great American Songbook” in new, fresh and sometimes startlingly different arrangements. The band has played concerts, dances and affairs from the Mississippi Delta to Columbus, Ohio, and from Nashville to St. Louis.
Joining the Quintet will be award-winning vocalist Emily Duff. A Mayfield native, Duff has performed throughout the Purchase area since high school.
A season pass is available for all four events in the series, for $20. Tickets for individual shows are $8 in advance, and $10 at the door. To purchase tickets and stay up to date on all Clemens Fine Arts Center events visit artsinfocus.org or call the box office at 270-534-3212.