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Jazz tribute to American saxophonist and composer Bobby Watson featuring Michael Shults (alto sax), Dave Spencer (trumpet), Alvie Givhan (piano), Sam Shoup (acoustic bass), and Carl Maguire (drums).

Tickets: $15 (purchase on Eventbrite)
Doors at 6:30 pm | performance at 7 pm
Location: Crosstown Arts East Atrium

The Crosstown Jazz Series, presented by Strictly Jazz Entertainment in collaboration with Crosstown Arts, is designed to salute classic jazz music as contemporary musicians perform the work of the legends.

About Michael Shults:
Saxophonist Michael Shults has been praised for his “strong, imaginative” improvisations (Downbeat Magazine) and “fresh and intelligent musical ideas” (The Pitch). A first-call musician on the Kansas City jazz scene for nearly a decade, Shults remains an active performer in the Fountain City and beyond and has twice appeared as a sideman on the Jazzweek National Radio Airplay Charts. In 2018, Dr. Shults was selected to perform at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference Friday night headline concert as a featured soloist along with Branford Marsalis. As a graduate student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Michael was a finalist in the 2012 North America Saxophone Alliance Jazz Artist Competition, and was the winner of the Graduate College Soloist category in the 2012 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards Issue.

Equally adept as a concert saxophonist, Shults has been praised for his “jaw-dropping” and “authoritative”technique (Bill Brownlee of the Kansas City Star) and has performed by invitation at the College Band Director’s National Association conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conference and the University of Iowa Festival for New Music. He is a founding faculty member of the Kansas City Saxophone Workshop along with Zach Shemon, alto saxophonist of the PRISM Quartet. Dr. Shults has also served on the faculty of the Eugene Rousseau Saxophone Workshop at Shell Lake Arts Center. Michael is Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Memphis and previously held the same position at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

He is a Yamaha and D’Addario performing artist and performs on their instruments and reeds exclusively.

About Strictly Jazz:
Strictly Jazz Entertainment is committed to cultivating a growing community in the knowledge and appreciation of jazz. We facilitate dialogue and collaboration between the devoted supporters of jazz and the brand new constituents – those new to the genre – for the furthering of the jazz community. We provide a bridge between leading artists and a community that typically does not embrace jazz by promoting concerts in various venues to generate an atmosphere that is viable for the absorption of pure jazz.