Classic jazz compositions will be performed for audience members Thursday.

The Eastern Jazz Lab Band will perform jazz music by a variety of composers and styles. The 18 Jazz Lab Band students will be performing music by Neal Hefti, an American jazz trumpeter and composer; John Clayton, an American jazz and classical double bassist; Oscar Peterson, a Canadian jazz pianist and composer; Gil Evans, a jazz pianist and composer; and Duke Ellington, an American composer, pianist.

Paul Johnston, the director of the Jazz Lab Band and an associate professor of jazz studies, said the compositions are very interesting and fun.

Johnston said the band will be playing “Portrait of Louis Armstrong” by Ellington.

“Ellington wrote a series of portraits that drew on musical ideas of important artists,” Johnston said. “That is a great piece because it combines the style of Louis Armstrong with the great writing of Duke Ellington.”

The lab band will also be playing compositions that were written for the Count Basie Orchestra.

The Count Basie Bands was started in 1936 by William ‘Count’ Basie and today has 19 members that perform many jazz compositions. This orchestra has won 17 Grammy’s for their music.

Johnston said the band will finish with a twist to “When the Saints Go Marching In” by Louis Armstrong.

“We will be doing a New Orleans’ style of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ that should be interesting to the audience,” Johnston said.

The compositions were picked based on their style, time period, composer and length, Johnston said.

“I end up giving the students experience playing different kinds of music,” Johnston said. “And I think the audience will enjoy hearing what the students have worked on so far this year.”

The different compositions make the concert interesting for a variety of students, faculty, staff and community members.

“The concert should have something every one in the audience will enjoy and connect with,” Johnston said.

The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. in Thursday in The Theatre of the

Doudna Fine Arts Center. The event is free.

Johnston said he hopes the audience connects with the music at the concert.

“Hearing a live performance is a lot more special than listening to the radio or watching a concert on TV,” Johnston said. “Attending the performance on Thursday will be a more special experience.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812

or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.