Events & Programs

Jazz is a way of looking at the world through sounds using a language of improvisation, risk, spontaneity, humor, and imagination.

Join jazz director Dana Landry, acoustic bass player Erik Applegate, guitarist and composer Steve Kovalcheck, percussionist Chris Smith and pianist Kelsey Shiba for a discussion on the common elements in the jazz language including rhythm, melody, and harmony. Explore these and other aspects of jazz through group interaction and sound recordings.

Dana Landry
Dana Landry is Director of Jazz Studies and Professor of Music at the University of Northern Colorado, where he directs UNC Jazz Lab Band I and the Northern Colorado Voices. He also teaches graduate courses in jazz and studio jazz piano. He serves as the Artistic Director of the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival and the Director of UNC Jazz Press.  Landry has performed with Milt Jackson, Bela Fleck, Dick Oatts, Ingrid Jensen, Jeff Coffin, Eddie Daniels, Don Aliquo, Rufus Reid, Clay Jenkins, Bob Mintzer, Slide Hampton, and others. Learn more about Dana Landry on his website www.danalandrymusic.com.

Erik Applegate
Described as "a top-notch acoustic bass performer" by Jazz Review.com, Erik Applegate has appeared with the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Nnenna Freelon, Milt Jackson, Mulgrew Miller, Eddie Daniels, George Garzone, Tom Harrell, Marlena Shaw, Bob Dorough, and others. He toured with James Williams and in a trio with Harold Mabern and Ed Thigpen, and has appeared throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Australia. He leads two bands of his own, A*S*K and Red Sylvester, and performs frequently as a sideman. His schedule and sound clips are available at www.erikapplegate.com.

Steve Kovalcheck
Guitarist/composer Steve Kovalcheck joined the UNC Jazz Studies faculty in the fall of 2009. He holds a B.M. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a M.M. from the University of Northern Colorado.

His professional experience includes recording and touring with Columbia recording artist Robinella and the C.C. String Band. Kovalcheck has performed with artists including Victor Krauss, the "New York Voices," the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, the Colorado Jazz Orchestra, Jeff Coffin, Tommy Sims, Blue Note Recording Artist Carrie Rodriguez, and the Dana Landry Quartet.

Chris Smith
Chris Smith recently moved from New York City to Greeley, Colorado to pursue a doctorate in percussion. While in New York, he performed regularly with jazz, soul, and hip-hop groups. Smith is an energetic and dynamic drummer who has performed throughout the United States. He holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Northern Illinois University.

Kelsey Shiba
Kelsey Shiba has been playing music since she was a young child. At age four, Kelsey's grandmother began to teach her violin and piano. She continued her studies with the Suzuki method through her junior high school years, where she also learned to play trombone, and taught herself guitar.

She completed both a B.M. and M.M at the University of Northern Colorado, one in classical voice and the other in jazz piano. While studying there, she sang with the Salsa Band, played keyboard with UNC Jazz Lab Band I at the IAJE Conference in New York, sang with the top vocal jazz group the Northern Colorado Voices, and sang major roles in opera productions. She has opened performances for Kurt Elling, Peter Eldridge, the Idea of North, Kevin Mohagany, and others. She appears regularly as a pianist and vocalist throughout Colorado.