Saxophonist Chuck Manning to headline Pierce Street Jazz

Manning will perform at La Sierra on Wed., Jun. 15 at 7 p.m. and will be accompanied by Pierce Street Jazz regulars Henry "the Skipper" Franklin on bass, Theo Saunders on piano, and Ramon Banda on drums.

Manning studied jazz and performance at the University of North Texas. During an extensive career, Manning has shared the stage with Albert "Tootie" Heath, Al Mckibbon, Al Williams, Alan Broadbent, Alan Ferber, Alphonse Mouzon, Anthony Wilson, Andrea Pozza, Art Hillary, Azar Lawrence, and more.

He has recorded albums with the Los Angeles Jazz Quartet and has held a long-time collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Isla Eckinger. In 2008, Manning released his first solo album titled, “Notes from the Real.” Throughout 2016, Manning will tour with the Chuck Manning Quartet, Henry Franklin Quartet, and the Theo Saunders Assemblage.

Franklin has organized the Pierce Street Jazz concerts at La Sierra University since their inception as a summer jazz series in 2009. His broad experience includes recordings on more than 150 albums and compact discs including gold releases, many of which he produced.

Saunders, one of the busiest pianists in the music business, has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls with distinguished artists including Freddie Hubbard, Carla Bley, David “Fathead” Newman, Barbara Morrison, Gladys Knight, and many others. He has directed music for opera productions and international musical theatre. As a composer, Saunders has numerous compositions to his credit as well as original scores for theatre, radio and multimedia production.

Banda performed 24 years with the Grammy award-winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. He is a current band member with famed jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. Banda grew up in Norwalk, Calif., part of a large musical family. Over the past two decades, Ramon has performed on more than 22 recordings and recorded and played with such music greats as Dizzie Gillespie, Tito Puente, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval, Diana Reeves and others.

Pierce Street Jazz admission is free. The concert will take place at the Troesh Conference Center, Zapara School of Business. For further information, call 951-785- 2148. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.