Concertgoers can expect a wide range of jazz music styles streaming from the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall tonight. The ISU Jazz Ensemble I and II are gearing up for their first concert of the year.

The specific types of jazz that will be played draw from various genres and appeal to many different tastes, according to Director of Jazz Ensembles and professor of trumpet James Bovinette.

“We will mix it up with Latin, traditional swing, modern jazz, blues and Kansas City style,” he said.

Both Jazz Ensemble I and Jazz Ensemble II have 18 members. The difference between the two is that Jazz Ensemble I plays more advanced improvisation, Bovinette said.

Bovinette has chosen the pieces that will be performed at the concert. The songs include “Switch in Time,” by Sammy Nestico, “Toronto,” by Rick Strauss, and “Butterfly,” by Steve Wright, among many others. He said he selected them based upon their educational merit and the talent of the group.

“I try to pick music that will help the students. Usually I focus on their weaknesses,” Bovinette said. “My goal is to teach them to translate some of the creative energy that the students have at this institution into music.”

Both groups have been practicing for about three hours per week to prepare, in addition to individual and sectional rehearsals, said Ryan Vanderhelm, who plays the trumpet for Jazz Ensemble I.

Vanderhelm, a junior in finance and music, is also one of tonight’s featured soloists. His solo will be during the tune, “Until I Met You,” by Freddie Green and Don Wols.

“It is an old Count Basie song, and we play pretty much the exact version that Basie’s group played. Thad Jones, an extremely underrated trumpet player, was known for playing the solo in this song, and I look forward to playing it at the concert,” Vanderhelm said.

Trombone player Mark Olofson said performing helps the soloist to release personal feelings.

“I really enjoy soloing. I think it’s a fantastic way for someone to express themselves, because in jazz it’s not written down, so the solo is flowing freely from you through your horn, expressing the pent-up emotion that resides within you at the moment. It’s a great release,” said Olofson, a freshman in chemical engineering.

The crowd also benefits from this distinctive opportunity to indulge in an individual’s creativity and talent at work in a piece of music.

“For that given amount of time,” Olofson added, “a group of people are there, listening to this music that is being created for them, by us, right at the moment that they are ready to take it in. It’s a great experience. And when they get into it, it’s awesome.”