The IWU Jazz Ensemble is building upon a long and illustrious heritage, which has seen the band perform concerts throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. The Jazz Ensemble is open to all students of the University by audition. Liberal Arts students are encouraged to play side by side with their music major peers. The emphasis of the ensemble is to develop skills which would make a student competitive in the jazz / commercial playing field, as well as competent in conducting his / her own jazz ensemble. The literature for the ensemble includes the finest music from all big band styles, with an emphasis on the jazz "classics".
The band’s tours have included performances at Disneyland, Disney World, in Phoenix, Nashville, L.A., Nassau, in the Bahamas, Japan, England, Scotland and Italy. The travel course titled “Jazz in Italy” allowed the band to perform in Rome, Perugia, Siena, Florence and Verona. The band has also been featured at a wide range of jazz festivals, and they have repeatedly performed at the Illinois Music Educators Association conference.
Guest soloists with the IWU Jazz Ensemble have included Jamey Aebersold, Buddy Baker, Shelly Berg, Denis DiBlasio, Lou Fischer, Tom Garling, Steve Houghton, Harold Jones, Frank Mantooth, Vince Mendoza, Rob Parton, Roger Pemberton, Jo Pass, Jim Pugh, Ed Shaughnessy, Bobby Shew, Ed Soph, Dominic Spera, Joey Tartell, Reggie Thomas, Chris Vadala, Steve Wiest, James Williams and Phil Wilson. Big bands that have performed on campus include Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and The Airmen of Note. Each year an internationally known jazz artist solos with the Jazz Ensemble at the annual IWU Jazz Festival.
The Ensemble's most recent CD features the best of classic and contemporary big band charts. The newest CD, plus CD’s of previous years, are available at the IWU Bookstore, or at the Jazz Ensemble concerts.