The MTSU Faculty Jazztet will pay tribute to renowned saxophonist Wayne Shorter Thursday, Feb. 18, in the latest concert in the 2015-16 MTSU Jazz Artist Series.

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 concert in Hinton Music Hall inside the university’s Wright Music Building are $10 for the public.

Jazz saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter pauses for a 2014 publicity photo. (Photo courtesy of Robert Ascroft)

Admission is free for MTSU students, faculty and staff with a valid ID. Discounts for area music students and educators also are available.

Shorter, 82, whom The New York Times called “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer, and a contender for greatest living improviser,” has been performing and composing since the late 1950s.

The MTSU Faculty Jazztet will feature professor Jamey Simmons and Dr. Michael Parkinson, director of the School of Music on trumpet; professor Don Aliquo and alumnus David Williford on saxophone; professor Joe Davidian on piano; adjunct professor Derrek Phillips on drums; and graduate student Patrick Atwater on bass.

“From his beginnings in the hard bop years of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers to his groundbreaking recordings for the Blue Note record label and his work with Miles Davis and the electric fusion group Weather Report, Shorter’s music is always rewarding to perform on multiple levels,” said Simmons, who serves as coordinator of the Jazz Studies Program in MTSU’s School of Music.

“What’s amazing is that he continues to tour with a quartet and makes music at such a high level. It’s this energy that we as a faculty are very excited about bringing to the stage.”

Advance tickets may be reserved by calling 615-898-2724 or emailing Simmons at james.simmons@mtsu.edu. Tickets also can be purchased at the door.

Now in its 17th season, the MTSU Jazz Artist Series brings internationally renowned jazz artists to campus for performances and educational workshops. Past guest artists have included some of the most important musicians and educators in jazz history.

The 2015-16 Jazz Artist Series concludes Saturday, March 19, with a 7:30 p.m. visit from saxophonist Steve Wilson as part of the daylong MTSU Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival.

For more information about MTSU’s Jazz Artist Series, visit www.mtsu.edu/music/jazzseries.php. For details on more MTSU School of Music performances, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)