Carcassés will perform with MSU's Jazz Orchestra I, directed by Rodney Whitaker, on Friday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Demonstration Hall.

Carcassés (below), who has been an active musician for more than 50 years, is originally from Jamaica. He grew up in Cuba, where he developed an eclectic interest in music ranging from opera to jazz. Early in his career, he performed with some of the best Cuban vocal quartets at the Tropicana, a well-known cabaret in Havana, and spent a year in Paris where he played with the legendary Kenny Clarke and Bud Powell. Returning to Havana in the 1970s, he played nightclubs and acted in television and movies. He is also a painter and exhibits his artworks around the world.

Considered one of the top proponents of jazz in Cuba, Carcassés launched the Jazz Plaza Festival in Cuba in 1978. Now called the Havana International Jazz Festival, the event has expanded to include all of the main concert halls in downtown Havana as well as impromptu jam sessions in the streets.

Tickets for the March 16 performance with MSU Jazz Orchestra I are $10, $8 for seniors, and free for students and those under 18. They are available at the door; at 102 Music Building during university business hours, and online at music.msu.edu/events.

The residency is sponsored by the College of Music, the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Read more about Bobby Carcassés: http://www.myspace.com/bobbycarcassesjazzguru.

Residency Schedule for Bobby Carcassés: Public Events

Monday, March 12

4:30 p.m.
304 Snyder Hall, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities
Art exhibit and talk: Carcassés will talk about “Cuban Jazz Art,” an exhibit of his artworks on display March 12-16 on the second floor of Snyder Hall.
Free and open to the public.

9:30 p.m.
103 Music Practice Building, College of Music
Workshop: Afro-Cuban Music Workshop
Free and open to the public.

Wednesday, March 14

3:00 p.m.
201 International Center, Center for Latin America and Caribbean Studies 
Lecture: “Jazz and Identity in Cuba: Bobby Carcassés’s Fifty-Year Music Career”
Free and open to the public.

Friday, March 16
7:30 p.m.
Demonstration Hall
Concert: Bobby Carcassés with Jazz Orchestra I, Rodney Whitaker, director
Tickets: $10, $8 for seniors, free for students and those under 18. Tickets are available at the door; at 102 Music Building during university business hours, and online at music.msu.edu/events.