DETROIT, MI (February 25, 2008) - Wednesday, March 19, is Wayne State University Jazz Night at the Music Hall Jazz Café. Three of Wayne State's most talented jazz ensembles will perform beginning at 7:30 p.m. followed by an open jam session. Directed by Professor and Director of Jazz Studies Chris Collins, the Jazz Big Band will open the program, followed by Jazz Lab II, directed by Professor Russ Miller, and Guitar Ensemble I, directed by Professor Steve Carryer. The concert is free and open to the public. The Jazz Café is located in the Music Hall at 350 Madison in Detroit's theater district.

Chris Collins is a professional woodwind player who has toured Japan, South Africa, Europe and North America as the leader of his own ensembles and as a featured soloist. In the past year, Collins has performed his original works in seven countries on four continents. He has played professionally with such artists as the Phil Collins Big Band, Doc Severenson, Mel Torme, Michael Fienstien, Rob McConnel, Lou Rawls and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at international jazz festivals including Cork, Ireland, Montreux-Switzerland, Pori, Nice, North Sea, and Glasgow. His most recent CD release "Jazz From The Shamrock Shore" (Harriett Jazz/ASCAP) features extended compositions that combine the instrumentation, musical vocabulary and repertoire of the Irish folk tradition with American Jazz. In addition to his work on commercial recordings and film soundtracks, including the soundtrack for the award winning Paramount Pictures release "The Big Night," Collins' solo work can be heard on the CD releases Urban Solitude, Chris Collins Quartet (Harriett Jazz); A Hot Night In Paris, The Phil Collins Big Band (Atlantic); A Time To Mourn, A Time To Dance (Harriett Jazz/ASCAP); and Watching For Watchung Plaza, The John Cooper Quintet. Collins' work has been recognized by Billboard, Downbeat, Detroit Jazz Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit News, the Hennesey Jazz Competition, and the International Association of Jazz Educators.