Encore presentation of 'Ypsilanti Orchestral Jazz Suite' set for Sunday in Pease Auditorium

What happens when you cross a jazz ensemble with a symphony orchestra? You get the “Ypsilanti Orchestral Jazz Suite,” a musical tribute to Ypsilanti.

“It’s like a painting in music, a kind of a tone poem,” said local jazz bassist and bandleader Paul Keller, who composed the work. “It’s a jazz quintet, led by an orchestra, inspired by different events and the people from Ypsilanti’s history.”

The Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Adam Riccinto, will team up with The Paul Keller Jazz Ensemble Sunday at Eastern Michigan University for an encore performance of the “Ypsilanti Orchestral Jazz Suite,” their 2010 musical salute to the city’s heritage.

Besides Keller on string bass, the jazz ensemble includes trumpeter Rayse Biggs, saxophonist Ben Jansson, pianist Tad Weed and drummer Sean Dobbins.

The concert will include historical photos and film of Ypsilanti's past, projected onto a large video screen behind the orchestra.

Five guest narrators will introduce and explain each of the five movements of the suite. “The stories explain the music on a little deeper level. All the parts (of Ypsilanti’s history) are represented in the music,” Keller said.

Movement #1, “Woodruff's Grove,” is a dedication to Ypsilanti's birth in 1823. It’s followed by “Ypsilanti Underground,” dedicated to the Ypsilanti stop on the Underground Railroad. Movement #3, “The Real McCoy,” is dedicated to Ypsilanti inventor Elijah McCoy 1844-1929).” “Movement #4, “The Great Migration,” honors those who headed north from Kentucky to work in the Willow Run B-24 factory during World War II. The final movement, “Downtown To Depot Town,” is a salute to Ypsilanti's past and bright future.”

“It’s a celebration,” Keller said of the work’s upbeat ending.

The guest narrators are Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber, Pat Tamblin (Ypsilanti office of the Bank of Ann Arbor), Diane Winder (head of the Department of Music and Dance at EMU), Maggie Brandt (St. Joseph Mercy Hospital) and Andre Dowell (from The Sphinx Organization, an artistic partner with the YSO).

Although some composers might have spent the time between the last performance and the one upcoming tweaking or otherwise altering their work, Keller said he’s resisted the temptation.

“We have not changed it, except for a few technical things to make things a little bit better,” he said. “Everybody (in the orchestra) knows the music the second time around. Now it’s more of a tightening up. Basically the music is going to be as it was performed two and a half years ago.”