From blues and punk to rock and roll, Arthur White has at one point in his life played in nearly every kind of band, but now he believes he has finally found “the perfect gig.” As the director of MU’s Jazz Performance Studies program and Assistant Professor in the School of Music, White now handles all things jazz at MU.

A uniquely American art form, jazz grew out of many musical developments around the turn of the last century. What most sets jazz apart from other kinds of music is its complex improvisational content. Percussionist Lloyd Warden suggests that, if done right, jazz can express emotions better than the spoken word. “When you hear Charlie Parker play the alto saxophone or hear Ella Fitzgerald sing,” he explains, “the emotions are condensed and presented in a way that is a lot more accurate than just a conversation, reading a book, or watching a movie.”