Wayne State will be featured in three performances at the 31st Detroit International Jazz Fest, the largest free jazz festival in the U.S.

On Sunday, September 5, 4:00 pm the WSU Big Band will perform with guest artist and trumpeter Terence Blanchard, a jazz artist with more than 50 film scores and 29 albums to his credit. The ensemble will present motion picture scores from Anatomy of Murder, China Town, A Streetcar Named Desire, Taxi Driver, Degas' Racing World and The Pawnbroker. WSU student compositions and arrangements will also be featured. Assistant Professor Russ Miller will conduct the ensemble on the Ampitheatre Stage at Hart Plaza.

The Dennis Tini Trio, featuring Distinguished Professor of Music Dennis Tini on piano, Jeff Halsey (Director of Jazz Studies at Bowling Green University), bass, and Dave Taylor (WSU jazz faculty), drums, will perform Sunday at Noon on the Pyramid Stage. This concert will feature Tini's compositions from his CD, Global Peace & Understanding along with works from the Great American Songbook, composed by Kenny Wheeler, Dave Brubeck and William Walton. Tini's jazz trio, duo and quintet CD's are available at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/tinitrio.

On Monday, September 6 at Noon, the Jazz Week@Wayne All-Star Youth Ensemble, featuring 17 high school students selected from the 4th Annual Jazz Week@Wayne music program, will perform on the Ampitheatre Stage, directed by Assistant Professor and Educational Director of Jazz Week@Wayne, Russ Miller. The ensemble represents musicians from 16 school districts in Detroit and southeast Michigan ranging from age 14 to 18. The group will perform selections from the music of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Sammy Nestico and others.

Visit www.detroitjazzfest.com for the complete Festival schedule.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.