Excitement is gathering in the performing arts department as Mt. Hood Community College Jazz Band members prepare to make an exit to Taiwan in mid-February.

The jazz band is invited to celebrate the Chinese New Year, participate in a cultural delegation, and perform with other musicians from around the world in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, from Feb. 19-27. They will travel as representatives of the Portland- Kaohsiung, Taiwan Sister City Association.

To raise proceeds for the trip, the MHCC Jazz Band, the Asociacion Internacional Jazz Peru (AIJP), IAJE, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and KMHD Jazz Radio 89.1 are sponsoring a benefit concert for the band on Friday, January 21, at 8 p.m. The concert, “World Jazz at MHCC”, will be headlined by Gabriel Alegria Un Rezo’s Afro-Peruvian Jazz Sextet, and will also feature performances by percussionist Otto Gygax, Connie Bierberach, and other local Peruvian artists.

The tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Every past MHCC Jazz Band CD will be on sale at the event for $5 including their newest recording, “I’m New Here”, for $10. “The band has recorded for many years,” said MHCC Jazz Band director Susie Jones.

So far, all 19 jazz band members are committed to the trip overseas. “We go as a band,” said Jones, “or we don’t go at all.”

Big Band Extravaganza “Incredible”

The MHCC Jazz Band performed at their “Big Band Jazz Extravaganza” in the College Theater on Monday evening.

They were joined by the UWEC Jazz Band from the University of Wisconsin and the jazz band from the University of Oregon.

Tickets were $5 a person and about 200 people (including performers) attended the two-and-a-half hour concert, said director Susie Jones. ”It was incredible,” she added.

The jazz band played five numbers and showcased soloists Derek Bondy, Andrew Washburn, Michael Rodriguez and other band members.

About $500 was raised at the concert including $60 from CD sales. The money was given to the University of Wisconsin’s Jazz Band for their trip back to Wisconsin.