Hot Notes / Cool Nites Concerts in the Park will be performing in the Lander City Park on July 18 at 7:00 PM. WyoJazz will be featured as the guest artists. The CWC Community band will be performing a program of (mostly) marches according to Dr. Jeremy Cochran, the band’s director.
Kelly Dehnert, the founder of WyoJazz, said he formed the group in the 1990s when he was Professor of Instrumental Music at Central Wyoming College. “We brought jazz artists together from Fremont County and the rest of the state to perform special events.” He said the group has performed History of Jazz shows for the schools, for the International Climbers Festival, and several Hot Notes / Cool Nites concerts. They will be performing classic, contemporary, and Latin jazz.
According to Dehnert, who plays trumpet for the group, members for this concert are Willie Wright (saxophones), Jeff Troxel (guitar), Ari Kamil (vocalist), Daniel Bender (piano), Feike van Dijk (Latin percussion), Sean Francis (bass), and Ian McFarland (drums). Dehnert noted that Jeff Troxel is currently living in Missoula, Montana, is a recording artist, and taught guitar for CWC for several years when Dehnert was on faculty.
The Hot Notes | Cool Nites concerts are sponsored in part by the Lander and Riverton Recreation Boards, The Ranger, County 10, Home Source Realty, Wyoming Arts Council, Sinks Canyon Therapies, The Inn At Lander, and the Girard Law Offices. The concerts are free, but Dehnert noted, “We pass the sousaphone for any contributions the audience can make to the series.”
According to Cochran, the Community band is always seeking out band musicians who are “young or old.” The band rehearses before the concerts at 5:30 pm and will be provided dinner. Interested musicians should contact him at the college at [email protected] for information.
