USF Jazz Ensemble

USF Jazz Ensemble plays the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:30 PM. It's a big band concert, which means you'll have a full horn section—trumpets, trombones, and saxophones—backed by a rhythm section of piano, bass, drums, and guitar. The ensemble is directed by Ross Strauser, and the program pulls from two different worlds: classic jazz standards and contemporary arrangements. That mix is the point of a big band set—hearing the old songs that built the genre alongside newer compositions that keep it moving.

If you're not familiar with the setup, a big band is a larger animal than the small combos you usually find in jazz clubs. It's more about the written arrangement than open improvisation, so you'll hear those layered horn parts working together rather than just one soloist taking the lead. Strauser's program leans into that, pairing the classics with more recent work.

The concert is part of Arts Unbound, a philanthropic program of the University of South Florida College of Design, Art & Performance. The program's whole reason for existing is to keep performances, concerts, exhibitions, and lectures accessible across the USF Arts District, and most of its events are free and open to the public. That's the case here, too: you don't need a ticket to get in.

So, if you're in Tampa and want a night of big band jazz, the USF Jazz Ensemble takes the stage at the Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 28, at 7:30 PM. It's free and open to the public.