TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student. Concert will be two, 1-hour sets.

This concert is underwritten by WETF-LP, 105.7 FM. The Jazz Station!

The Makanda Project is a 13-piece group based in Boston. The group was formed in 2005 to explore the previously unrecorded compositions of Makanda Ken McIntyre (1931-2001), a prolific, innovative, and unsung multi-instrumentalist, educator, and composer whose contributions to the development of jazz from the 1960s onward remain under-recognized. Upon Dr. McIntyre's passing, 350 unrecorded compositions were discovered - a significant body of work that would have remained unknown to the public without the Makanda Project's efforts. Leader/arranger/pianist John Kordalewski, a former McIntyre student, has arranged over 60 of these compositions for the large ensemble.

Because there is no record of Dr. McIntyre having performed these pieces, the Makanda Project differs from "tribute bands" whose performances can be compared to original recordings. Rather, the McIntyre compositions have been a vehicle for the group to develop its own sound and identity.

The Makanda Project has been an actively working large ensemble for over 15 years, a relative rarity in today's day and age. The group has achieved this largely by presenting self-produced free concerts in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, throughout the year, and developed a strong local following as community-based artists. The group has also performed throughout the East Coast from Washington DC to Maine, and its first European performances, in 2021, were very well received. The April tour will be the group's first appearances in the Midwest.

The personnel:

Kurtis Rivers - alto saxophone

Lee Odom - alto and soprano saxophones, flute, clarinet

Sean Berry - tenor saxophone

Paavo Carey - tenor saxophone, flute

Charlie Kohlhase - baritone saxophone

Jerry Sabatini - trumpet

Haneef Nelson - trumpet

Alfred Patterson - trombone

Richard Harper - trombone

Bill Lowe - bass trombone

John Kordalewski - piano

Wes Brown - bass

Yoron Israel - drums

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trusts and Foundations, through grants provided by the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation (2020-2021 season), the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation (2021-2022 season), and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust (2021-2022 season).

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Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation (2020-2021 and 2021-2022 season). The Student and Home Grown Series concerts made possible, in part, with support from the ArtsEverywhere Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and the Arts Project Support Grant and the Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.