Contact: Kelley Bozeman

Tickets are $7 for UK and Lexington Community College students, $12 for UK and LCC faculty and staff, and $17 for the general public.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 23, 2005) -- The University of Kentucky Student Activities Board and Office of African-American Student Affairs welcomes Russell Gunn in concert as part of the 27th season of Spotlight Jazz, the longest-running collegiate jazz series in the nation, at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 25, in Memorial Hall.

Mixing his love of hip-hop with his passion for the trumpet, Russell Gunn developed one of today’s most intriguing sounds. He struggled to make a name for himself on the jazz scene for a few years before an assistant to Wynton Marsalis recommended him for the third trumpet chair in Marsalis’ “Blood on the Fields.”

After great reviews of his time spent with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Gunn began to lead on his own as well as record his first album.

Jump ahead seven years to his well-received “Ethnomusicology Volume 2,” and you will find two Grammy nominations (for both Volume One and Two) under his belt. His latest, “Ethnomusicology Volume 4” hit stores in 2004.

Tickets are $7 for UK and Lexington Community College students, $12 for UK and LCC faculty and staff, and $17 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased at the Student Center Ticket Office, online, or by calling (859) 257-TICS, . Cash, check, Visa/Mastercard, and the UK Plus Account are accepted.