The following article is reprinted with permission from the Nov. 15, 2007, issue of Volume One.

Cuban Fire!
Internationally celebrated jazz pianist to join UWEC's Jazz I

Hold on to your hats, folks. UW-Eau Claire Jazz Ensemble I, under the direction of Robert Baca, will play host to the amazing Nachito Herrera on Nov. 30. Herrera, born and raised in Cuba, is an internationally celebrated pianist who calls the Twin Cities home. Most recently he has collaborated with (UW-Eau Claire student) John Raymond and the Twin Cities Horns on some high-energy shows at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. This will be his second trip to Eau Claire and the beginning of what could be a long-standing collaborative partnership with the UWEC jazz department. "We are very excited to have Nachito working with us," says Robert Baca, director of jazz studies. "We're playing at the Illinois State Music Convention and the Minnesota Music Educators Convention in February, and we are very happy to feature Nachito as a guest soloist. This concert is a preparation for those performances." The band will feature the Cuban firebrand on a Slide Hampton arrangement of A Night in Tunisia and also premiere a work that is being composed by Herrera for this event. In addition, Jazz I will perform music from Maria Schneider's latest CD, Sky Blue, and music from the Airmen of Note. — Gene Power