Harding Jazz Band presents Big Band radio show to raise money for Humane Society Nov 12

SEARCY, Ark. — The Harding University Jazz Band will recreate a 1930s and 40s radio show for their upcoming concert, “Music of the Greatest Generation,” complete with an announcer, Big Band swing music and guest professional artists. The concert will be held Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Searcy Performing Arts Center on the campus of Searcy High School. The cost will be $8, with all proceeds benefiting the Humane Society of Searcy.
The concert will feature guest artists Doug Scharf, jazz trumpet player from Chicago, performing “Stars Fell On Alabama” by Frank Perkins and Mitchell Parish and “Basin Street Blues” by Spencer Williams; Bob Duda, vocalist from Chicago, performing “Cheek to Cheek” by Irving Berlin and “You’ll Never Know” by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon; Shirley Chauvin, vocalist from Hot Springs, Ark., performing “Deed I Do” by Fred Rose and “At Last” by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon; and John Hadraba from Chicago as the announcer.
 
The concert will also include several Big Band swing music numbers by the Harding Jazz Band, and Hadraba will also present “Witticisms, Stories and Tales from the Armed Forces Mailbag.”
 
“Having performers who know the style period and hearing the right ‘announcer’ transitions as they did in those days helps us reproduce a performance that sounds very similar to one some audience members may have heard many years ago,” Dr. J. Warren Casey, director of the Jazz Band, said.
 
Tickets may be purchased at the Harding Music Department office, Barkin’ Barn and Audio Express, all in Searcy.
 
For more information, please contact the Harding Music Department at 501-279-4343.
 
Harding had a record enrollment this year of more than 6,800 students from 49 states and 53 foreign countries. It is the largest private university in Arkansas and attracts more National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state. Harding also maintains campuses in Australia, Chilé, England, France, Greece, Italy and Zambia.