Southern Miss Jazz Lab Band to Perform Outdoor Concert at Long Beach Live

Tue, 03/28/2023 - 10:25am | By: Mike Lopinto

Long Beach Live, the city’s monthly concert series, will feature the Southern Miss Jazz Lab Band and singer Jonathan Brannan at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 14. The outdoor event will take place at the Harper McCaughan Town Green amphitheater in Long Beach and is free to the public.

The Jazz Studies Program in The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Music has been in existence for over 50 years. Its ensembles include two big bands and four to five combos, which include the award-winning Southern Miss Jazztet. The Jazz Lab Band has performed with world-renowned musicians, such as Ellis Marsalis, Jeff Coffin, Tom “Bones” Malone, Jovino Santos Neto, and many more.

Special soloist Jonathan Brannan is a Southern Miss alum who serves as a communications advisor for Chevron. Previously, he was a reporter and anchorman for WLOX TV. As a singer and actor, Brannan has appeared in several notable productions, including the movie Pitch Perfect in 2012. 

He currently sings with the Coast Big Band and has performed frequently with the Southern Miss Jazz Lab Band. “Jonathan Brannan is a very versatile singer, who is able to sing in a pop style or bring a ‘Sinatra-esque’ or Harry Connick Jr. swagger to songs from the Great American Song Book. We look forward to performing with him once again in this musical reunion,” said Larry Panella, director of the Southern Miss Jazz Lab Band.

We hope you join us for an evening of free jazz at the Harper McCaughan Town Green in Long Beach. The performance is brought to you by the Ambassador Series, which is a cultural outreach program of the USM Gulf Park Campus.

For more information, please visit the Ambassador series website.