The Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre presents “Sing, Sing, Sing,” featuring Mad River Transit Singers, the Cal Poly Humboldt jazz choir. The performance is Friday, December 2nd at 8:00 p.m. at the Fulkerson Recital Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, Ca. Concert tickets are $10 General, $5 Children, and FREE for Cal Poly Humboldt students with ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance at centerarts.humboldt.edu.

Mad River Transit Singers will perform a variety of jazz styles—Highlights of the program include exciting arrangements of well-known standards such as Louis Prima’s energetic “Sing, Sing, Sing”—originally written for band and voice but later made famous by the Benny Goodman Orchestra—and Ray Evans’ and Jay Livingston’s “Stuff Like That There,” originally performed by Betty Hudson, but has seen covers from everyone from the King Sisters to Kelly Clarkson, and Bette Midler.

The singers will perform a gorgeous arrangement of the ballad “Blackberry Winter” by Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohon. Originally performed with voice by Teddi King in 1976 and then Keith Jarrett on piano in 1977, the ballad is a song of regret and grief—a “blackberry winter” being a cold spell in an otherwise abundant time.

The program is rounded out by performances of “Sandu,” a 12-bar blues tune originally for instruments uniquely arranged for voices by contemporary jazz vocalist and composer Rosana Eckert, Michele Weir’s innovative a cappella arrangement of the lullaby “Rock-A-Bye Baby,” and Matt Falker’s brand new arrangement of a swing tune called “Easy Love” by Larry Goldings and Sara Gazarek.

Rachel Samet, director of the Mad River Transit Singers spoke of the performance “Mad River Transit Singers is supported by a solid rhythm section (John Chernoff, piano; Christopher Antolin-Wilczek, guitar; Steve Smith, bass; Travis Strong, drums) and will feature Andrew Henderson on trumpet for select tunes. This is sure to be a fun concert you won’t want to miss!”