The term “big band jazz” is almost self-explanatory: an ensemble of trumpets, trombones, saxophones, guitars, pianos, and more – it is quite literally, a big band.

Students and community members will get a chance to hear for themselves what a big band really sounds like Tuesday night as The WSU Jazz Big Band and the One O’clock Jazz ‘Shop come together to put on a free performance.

“Jazz is sometimes presented as this elitist thing, and I don’t like that very much,” said Gregory Yasinitsky, director of The School of Music at Washington State University.

To help dispel that idea, Yasinitsky and Alvin Delos Santos, a graduate student mastering in music, compiled a wide variety of big band jazz songs from different eras, including a few that have been written in the last couple of years.

“We want to share our music and our joy with the audience,” Delos Santos said.

The concert will have several standout moments from the musicians, including a guitar feature from David Snider, an instructor of music at WSU, on the song “Another Blues in G for Guitar,” and a trumpet feature from Brian Ploeger, a former member of the Maynard Ferguson Band.

Alongside the WSU performers will be Daniel Barry, a professional composer and trumpet player, and friend of Yasinitsky’s, who will join the concert as both a conductor and featured artist. He will have several of his songs performed by the bands.

Barry has performed his compositions around the globe and has a talent for combining many disparate ideas, Yasinitsky said.

“You can hear this other world of influences he’s able to bring into his works,” Delos Santos said.

Barry’s appearance at the concert is made possible through a fellowship grant from Artist Trust, a nonprofit organization that supports talented artists throughout Washington state.

People who attend will also be live for the premiere of Yasinitsky’s “Serpentine,” a piece he wrote specifically for this year’s WSU Jazz Big Band students.

“I knew I’d have a special band this year, so I wanted to write something especially for them,” Yasinitsky said.

“Serpentine” will be performed again in January when the WSU Jazz Big Band attends the Jazz Education Network Conference in San Diego.

“Being asked to play for the Jazz Education Network is like the football team playing in a Bowl game,” Yasinitsky said.

The Big Band Concert takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Kimbrough Concert Hall.