Jazz at Holmes to present Jazz in the Quad with Willie Akins Sept. 14

Renowned saxophonist Willie Akins will launch Washington University’s fall Jazz at Holmes series with a special outdoor performance in Brookings Quadrangle. The event, titled Jazz in the Quad, is free and open to the public and begins at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14. Brookings Quadrangle is located immediately west of Brookings Hall, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt Drives.

The concert is sponsored by the Office of Residential Life and New Student Orientation. For more information, call (314) 935-4841 or email staylor@wustl.edu.

Born in Webster Groves, Akins moved to New York City in 1957, playing tenor sax with jazz greats such as Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner and Roy Haynes. He returned to St. Louis in the 1968, shortly after the death of his father, and was a mainstay of the city’s famous Gaslight Square district. Today his Willie Akins Quartet performs regularly at clubs and concert venues throughout the area. In 1998 they released their first compact disc, the critically lauded Alima, on the Catalyst label.

Founded in 1996, Jazz at Holmes features professional jazz musicians from around St. Louis and abroad most Thursday evenings throughout the semester. Subsequent concerts will take place in the university’s Holmes Lounge, a relaxed, coffeehouse-style setting located in Ridgley Hall, the western side of Brookings Quadrangle.

Performers will include:

• Sept. 21 – Pianist Ptah Williams and his quartet.
• Oct. 5 – Pianist Linda Presgrave with trumpeter Randy Holmes.
• Oct. 12 – Guitarist Steve Schenkel with members of the Fox/MUNY Orchestra. (The concert will be dedicated in memory of Dave Engelke, a former guitar instructor in the Department of Music and a longtime member of the orchestra.)
• Oct. 26 – Pianist Peter Martin with drummer Maurice Carnes.
• Nov. 2 – Bassist Eric Stiller and his group.
• Nov. 9 – Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis with pianist Carolbeth True.
• Nov. 30 – Guitarist William Lenihan and his quartet.
• Dec. 7 – Pianist Phil Dunlap and his trio.

Jazz at Holmes is sponsored by Washington University’s College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, Student Union and WUJazz. Additional sponsorship is provided by the Congress of the South 40, University College and Summer School, the Office of Student Activities, Event Services, the Annika Rodriquez Scholars Program, the Greek Life Office, the Community Service Program and Michael Cannon, Executive Vice Chancellor and General Counsel.