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Texoma Jazz Festival to Feature the Steve Rigazzi Quartet

April 22, 2008

Picture of Steve Rigazzi

The Texoma Jazz Festival will, for the first time, bring the finest in jazz entertainment to downtown Durant. The festival will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at Market Square in downtown Durant. The Steve Rigazzi Quartet from Kansas City will headline the evening concert on a day filled with performances of jazz bands from Oklahoma and Texas. This event is free and open to the public to come and go all day long.

The Texoma Jazz Festival is jointly produced by Southeastern Oklahoma State University, the Durant High School Band, and the Durant Main Street program. The festival is dedicated to educational and performance opportunities high school and community jazz bands in Oklahoma and north Texas, as well as providing the very best in jazz programming for the region.

The festivities will begin in Market Square at 3:00 p.m., and there will be continuous jazz performances until dusk. Performers will include high school jazz bands from Kingston and Denison, as well as the Durant High School Jazz Band. Also performing will be the Texoma Jazz Orchestra and the SOSU Jazz Ensemble.

The featured ensemble for the festival is the Steve Rigazzi Quartet from Kansas City, Missouri. The quartet features former Durant High School and SOSU alumnus Steve Rigazzi on the bass, Todd Strait on drums, Paul Smith on piano, and Jake Blanton on guitar. The group performs frequently in the Kansas City area and last performed at the Jazz Festival in 2002. As individuals these four musicians have performed and recorded with every major jazz artist of our time including Woody Herman, Kevin Mahogany, Pat Metheny, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Karrin Allyson, Chris Vadasa, Ed Shaugnessy, Angela Hagenbach, . The Rigazzi Quartet will perform a variety of jazz standards and original compositions in their own performance, and will then join the SOSU Jazz Ensemble for the final set of the evening.

The schedule of performances is as follows:

  • 3:00 – Kingston High Schol
  • 3:30 – The Texoma Jazz Orchestra
  • 4:15 – The Denison High School Jazz Band
  • 4:45 - The Durant High School Jazz Band
  • 5:45 – The Steve Rigazzi Quartet
  • 6:30 – The SOSU Jazz Ensemble

Donna Dow, Director of the Durant Main Street program states, "A limited amount of seating will be provided at Market Square, but we encourage patrons to bring their own lawn chairs to be comfortable." Patrons can donate to the Festival by purchasing event programs, which will be sold for $5.00. Inside one of these programs will be the winning ticket for a three-night stay at the Las Vegas Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided by Durant Main Street.

Parking will be available in the area surrounding Market Square, but the square itself will be reserved for seating for the festival. The Durant Band Boosters will provide concessions for the day.

The Texoma Jazz Festival is sponsored by grants from the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Red River Arts Council, and the National Endowment of the Arts.

Come join us for a great day of Americal's music – JAZZ!!