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Jan. 28, 2008
 Grant Langford, lead alto saxophonist with the Count Basie Orchestra, will be working with seven high school and middle school jazz bands participating in the 36th annual Morningside College Tri-State Jazz Festival on February 1 in Eppley Auditorium on the Morningside campus.
The festival features performances from school jazz bands throughout the day and concludes with a concert that features the Morningside College Jazz Ensemble. Langford will perform as a guest soloist with the Morningside jazz group and also will perform with a local rhythm section composed of Eddie Dunn on bass, Charles Sanders on piano and Randy Washburn on drums. The 7:30 p.m. concert in Eppley Auditorium is free and open to the public.
During the day, the festival focuses on musical and educational aspects of high school and middle school jazz ensembles. Each school band will perform a 30-minute set on the Eppley Auditorium stage. After each performance, Langford will conduct a 30-minute clinic with the band. Participating jazz bands are from Dakota Valley High School and Dakota Valley Middle School in North Sioux City; Griswold, Iowa, High School; LeMars, Iowa, Community Middle School; Hull, Iowa, Western Christian High School; Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City; and Papillion, Nebraska, La Vista High School.
Langford, who lives in New York City, has been a featured member of the world-famous Count Basie Orchestra since 2005. Langford also is involved in teaching saxophone and jazz theory. Most recently he taught private saxophone, clarinet and flute lessons at Sunnyside Music Studio and Teacher’s Choice School in New York City.
Langford began playing saxophone at the age of 12 in his native North Carolina. He received his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
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