Famed sax/reed player Bob Sheppard performs, instructs with student ensemble, CR Jazz
If you have watched Saturday Night Live or Seinfeld, you have heard Bob Sheppard. If you saw movies such as Meet the Parents, Jerry Maguire or As Good As It Gets you have heard him, too. Now eastern Iowa music fans can hear and meet an acclaimed international artist at Kirkwood Community College.
The next concert in the fall Performing Arts series is the fall jazz concert featuring multi-instrumental artist Bob Sheppard on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Ballantyne Auditorium. Sheppard will perform with the Kirkwood Jazz Ensemble and the C.R. Jazz Big Band. Both groups are under the direction of Instrumental Jazz Director Dr. Timothy Feldkamp.
Sheppard is a long-time veteran of jazz ensembles and has built a reputation as a sought-after session and touring musician. He is a virtuoso of flute and clarinet as well as his signature sax stylings, performing with dozens of greats including Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Horace Silver, Lyle Mays and Nat Adderley. His versatile style has also earned him places on recordings and tours with artists as diverse as Manhattan Transfer, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello and Steely Dan. Sheppard also added his music to soundtracks for more than 100 TV series and motion pictures.
A recent review of a European performance hailed Sheppard’s “inspiring musical spontaneity and a dramatic playing style, supported by a warm and centered playing style….These attributes combine with his keen musical intuition and…accents his own personal twist.”
As part of his Cedar Rapids appearance, Sheppard will hold a jazz master class from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in Room 375 Cedar Hall. He will discuss musical technique, jazz and popular music and his prolific career in this program, free and open to the public.
Tickets for the Dec. 5 Kirkwood performance of Bob Sheppard are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and students with current ID. Kirkwood students, faculty and staff are admitted free of charge. Tickets are available from the Kirkwood Student Life office in Iowa Hall, (319) 398-5578.