Jazz Bassist Dan Loomis Brings ‘Job’s Trials’ to UW Sept. 26

The University of Wyoming Jazz Studies Program presents jazz bassist and composer Dan Loomis for a special performance of his innovative work, "Job's Trials: A Jazz Song Cycle," Friday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts recital hall.

The concert is free and open to all. Seating is limited.

"Job's Trials" is an evocative musical dive into an ancient, universal story exploring why bad things happen to good people, recasting the story of Job as a powerful parable of righteous resistance.

Loomis uses his unique compositional voice and signature soulful bass-playing to bring this story to life. He infuses the classical song cycle with the passionate language of jazz and the blues, amplified by theatrical narration, using the inherent ambiguity and pathos of these forms to explore Job's suffering from a modern perspective. Each song presents an essential, thought-provoking theme from the Book of Job.

Loomis employs a range of sounds, from delicate chamber music settings to the wildest electronic layerings to convey the emotional complexity of Job's journey from quiet despair to rebellious fury. The result is a completely novel artistic endeavor, unlike anything else in the jazz or classical canon.

With more than a decade of performing experience in New York City, Loomis is an in-demand jazz bassist, composer and band leader known for his forceful and creative playing. He has appeared on nearly a dozen recordings with the Dan Loomis Quartet and with bands he co-leads, including the acclaimed collectives The Wee Trio and SPOKE.

A prolific composer, he has written several commissioned works. As a sideman, Loomis has played in all of New York's major clubs and at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in addition to appearing on stages across Europe, Canada, Australia, China and throughout the United States. Loomis also is a popular teacher and clinician, having spent more than a decade working with students across the United States, Canada and Australia.