Link to Program: Continuing in a recent series of highlight jazz concerts (including Benny Carter's Kansas City Suite for the Count Basie Orchestra, and an evening of Frank Sinatra), Jazz Ensemble I, under the direction of Jeffrey W. Holmes, explores the diverse composing and arranging of Gerald Wilson (1918-2014), and Melba Liston (1926-1999) with 2026 marking the centennial of Liston's birth. Along with Jazz Ensemble I, guests include Haneef Nelson, trumpet and Felipe Salles, tenor saxophone. Selections to include Wilson's arrangement of Perdido for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Doors' hit Light My Fire reimagined for big band, and his own compositions Calafia, Dissonance in Blues and Viva Tirado, while works by Liston will include Late Date written for the Art Blakey Big Band, and other originals Let's Get Down, Tone Poem and Just Waiting. Both Liston (1987) and Wilson (1990) were recipients of the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, which is the highest honor the United States bestows upon jazz musicians. Gerald Wilson was a jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger and educator. He arranged music for Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Julie London, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson. In addition to composing, arranging, and teaching, he had a unique style of conducting: "Garbed in well tailored suits, his long white hair flowing, Wilson shaped the music with dynamic movements and the elegant grace of a modern dancer." Melba Liston was a jazz trombonist, arranger and composer, especially known for her arrangements with pianist Randy Weston, and who paved the way for women in jazz other than vocalists. She was the first woman trombonist to play alongside men in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s. She played with Dizzy Gillespie, John Lewis, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and others; in addition, she worked with Milt Jackson, Clark Terry, and Johnny Griffin, as well as arranging for Motown, appearing on albums by Ray Charles. Her innovative jazz arrangements legitimized her presence in a very male-dominated environment.