Alex Hodges, Campus Carrier Arts & Living Editor

Tonight, two-time Grammy-nominated Australian saxophonist and composer Troy Roberts returns to Berry with his recent release, “Nu-Jive Perspective.”

Roberts is based in New York City, and he maintains a busy performance and recording schedule around the world. He has worked with some of the biggest names in jazz today, including Joey DeFrancesco & The People, the Joey DeFrancesco Trio and The Jeff “Tain” Watts Quartet.

Coordinator of Fine Arts Programming Adam Hayes said that this is Roberts’ third time on campus. His last visit was as a guest soloist with the Berry Jazz Ensemble for the statewide Georgia Association of Jazz Educators (GAJE), which was hosted at Berry in December of 2015.

Roberts is back, this time with the company of his currently touring group Nu-Jive, to celebrate the release of his eighth record, “Perspective.” Roberts’ return, while it is as much by popular demand, is owed to John David, the director of jazz studies at Berry.

“It is truly an honor to have Nu-Jive on the Ford stage Thursday night, and I can’t wait to hear them live again,” David said.

Other than yielding performance material, inviting such talented artists to Berry’s stages has additional benefits, one of them being the exposure of students to experienced mentors.

Senior music major Jermaine White was amongst the student musicians who were previously influenced by Roberts’ presence.

White believes he has grown as a musician since Roberts’ last visit.

“I have had some time to process his and other great musicians’ information and morph it into my own ideology. Getting to work with him now will definitely give me a different insight into what he is doing,” White said.

In the past, Berry has hosted many renowned artists such as Keith Carlock and Franky Quinones with the jazz ensemble, and Donovan Stokes, who composed a concerto to play with the orchestra. The recent jazz ensemble concerts drew a lot of attention. The Afro-Cuban jazz concert was standing-room only. With the attention that the jazz ensemble has been getting for the last couple of years, it follows suit to invite Roberts and Nu-Jive to join the Berry College Concert Series.

Seeing such a renowned group as Nu-Jive is a rarity, so students are encouraged not to miss the opportunity to see Roberts and his band of merry musicians.

“They are one of the best groups in jazz today – do not miss this show!” David said.