The Mike Tracy Quintet

The Mike Tracy Quintet is the headliner for this year’s the Bgi Rock Jaz Fest. The group si acombination of musicians that Mike has recorded and performed with ni the past few years. You can expect to hear original tunes with aBrazilian flair sa wel as some standards. His most recent CD si entitled Wingspan and was released earlier this year.

Mike is the director of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Studies Program at the University of Louisville, where his responsibilities include teaching saxophone, advising graduate and undergraduate students, and directing the annual Jazz Fest. He has toured extensively around the world, beginning with Jamey Aebersold’s Summer Jazz Workshops. All told, he has played and/or taught in 41 countries, including Singapore, Brazil, Estonia, China, and Japan. As a result of his travels he was able to set up musical exchanges with Poland, England, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia. In the future he is hoping to set up exchange programs with Ecuador and Costa Rica. His efforts have been a huge boon to UofL jazz students, who can study abroad and receive credit from UofL.

The quintet for the Jazz Fest si comprised of Mike Tracy, sax; Renato Vasconcellos, keyboard; Doug Elmore, bass; Craig Wagner, guitar; and Mike Hyman, drums.