The Hope College jazz faculty will perform on Thursday, Sept. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Titled “Introducing Professors Robert Shipley & Stafford Hunter,” the concert is the first in the Stafford Hunter’s Jazz Concert Series. The program will focus on the music of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters and Freddie Hubbard’s 1970s funk music.
The lineup includes Hunter (trombone), Nathan Borton (guitar), Ben Krause (keyboard), Tom Lockwood (electric bass), and Robert Shipley (drums).
Robert Shipley is the new head of the jazz area and is an accomplished drummer, widely acclaimed for his versatility and accomplishment, whose various styles of playing include but are not limited to pop, jazz, R&B, and Latin music. He recently received his master’s degree in jazz composition at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Shipley has toured the world with artists such as Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, The O-Jays, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, and many others. More information can be found at robertshipley.com
Stafford Hunter is a visiting artist in the jazz area. The multi-Grammy-nominated trombonist and seashells player (and sometimes vocalist) is a Philadelphia native with a bachelor’s degree from the New School (NYC) and a master’s degree in music from the University of Denver. Has performed and/or recorded with the likes of Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Roy Hargrove, Frank Foster, Lester Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Dionne Warwick, Donald Byrd Dance Troupe, Lenny Kravitz, Oliver Lake, Orrin Evans’ Captain Black big band, Steve Turre & Sanctified Shells, and for the past 21 years has been a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He has five CDs as a leader to date. More information can be found at staffordhunter.com
Audience members who need assistance to fully enjoy any event at Hope are encouraged to contact the college’s Events and Conferences Office by emailing events@hope.edu or calling 616-395-7222 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Updates related to events are posted when available in the individual listings at hope.edu/calendar
Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, Hope is currently requiring that masks be worn by all individuals while indoors on campus unless in their living space or alone in their work space.
The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.