The Merrill High School Jazz Ensembles will be swingin’ and rockin’ their way into the second half of the school year with their Winter Jazz Concert on Monday, Feb. 8. 

The “3/4” Jazz Ensemble, directed by Kevin Short, will start the program with swingin’ classics like “Jersey Bounce” and Jerome Richardson’s “Groove Merchant”, along with rockin’ tunes like “Sausalito Strut” and “Perpetual Commotion.”  This group will also be competing at this month’s District Solo & Ensemble Festival held later this month.

The “Early Bird” Jazz, under the direction of Michael Chula, will finish the program with some of the standards of big band music, including Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues”, Harold Arlen’s “Stormy Weather”, and Joe Zawinul’s “Birdland.”  The Early Bird Ensemble recently participated in the 5th annual Wausau Jazz Festival.

The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. in the MHS Auditorium, and admission is free.