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Jazz band welcomes special guest in Scranton

Musicians in Scranton had the opportunity to play with a special guest Sunday night.

SCRANTON, Pa. — The University of Scranton Jazz Band spent Sunday morning rehearsing for a concert at the Houlihan-McLean Center on Mulberry Street in the city.

One of the musicians, however, isn't a regular on the stage.

Matt Munisteri, who has contributed to grammy-winning CDs, will be a guest performer with the students.

"It's fun. I spent the last week at Birdland with this woman Katherine Russell and finished up at one o'clock in the morning last night and came out here, and it's great to hear them, and they've picked a bunch of great tunes for tonight," said Matt Munisteri, guitarist/singer.

"It seems like almost every concert we have someone who maybe you've never heard of them at first, but then you look them up, and they are just these like world-renowned musicians who have done all these great things, and it's just really an honor to play with those people," said Joseph Dolan, saxophonist.

Students like saxophonist Joseph Dolan, playing alongside someone like Munisteri, even if only for a couple days, is a great opportunity.

"Yeah, I feel like you learn a lot from these musicians. They have a lot of good input to say when we sit on, sit in with them on rehearsals. It's crazy to see how they pick up the music so fast. Like, we usually only have one or two rehearsals with these people, and they just kind of get into it, and they have a lot of great tips for the band, and even in those one to two rehearsals. I feel like we sound even better after that," said Dolan.

Munisteri says a musician's education never stops.

"Because jazz is a constantly evolving language, it's still, you know, people are still improvising it and bringing their own personalities to it and their own backgrounds and histories. So by learning, you know, the past traditions, you can really understand how to incorporate your own voice," explained Munisteri.

The performance wrapped up Sunday night at the Houlihan-McLean Center on Mulberry Street and Jefferson Avenue in Scranton. 

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