Virtuoso Trombonist Joins Southern Miss Jazz Bands in Concert

Wed, 03/23/2022 - 05:59pm | By: Mike Lopinto

The Southern Miss Jazz Lab Bands will welcome jazz trombone phenom Marshall Giles to the stage for a free, one-night-only concert on Tuesday April 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mannoni Performing Arts Center on the Hattiesburg campus.

“I was unaware of Marshall's work until some trombone students asked if we could have him as a guest someday” said Larry Panella, director of jazz studies at USM. “I checked him out and what I heard was jaw dropping. There is so much creativity in his music and I am always eager to feature artists such as that.”

Giles is a virtuoso performer as well as a composer and arranger and is one of the most exciting jazz trombonists in the world. He is in demand as a performer playing lead with the famed Village Vanguard Orchestra, The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra, and as guest performer with the famed WDR (West German Radio) Big Band, the UMO Jazz Orchestra (Finland), the Airmen of Note (USAF) and Pershing's Own - The Army Blues along with numerous college and university jazz ensembles. He's also performed as a featured soloist with pianist Makoto Ozone, drummer Billy Chobham, bassist Richard Bona, and harpist Edgar Castaneda.

“We've not had a guest with the jazz labs for quite some time since the pandemic began so it is energizing to put this together and feature him with our jazz bands” continued Panella. “This is a don't-miss event."