The “Dave Dickey Big Band” will be performing at the Krannert Center Great Hall on Wednesday. Dickey’s band is an 18-piece all-star jazz big band featuring University jazz faculty and the top jazz musicians in east and central Illinois.

Wednesday’s show will also feature Los Angeles jazz trumpet legend Bobby Shew, trombonist Jim Pugh, and a well-known drummer from Chicago, Joel Spencer.

Last week, I was able to chat with Dickey on the phone about the show, his band and his love for music.

Dickey is a trombonist and doctoral student at the University. He has a great deal of experience in performance and had been interested in starting a big band here at the University for a while.

“I’ve always had a love for big bands,” he said.

Dickey has a long history in jazz. He started listening to jazz in junior high school and began performing in his Iowa high school band. My high school had a really good jazz program, he said.

From there, Dickey went on to perform in jazz bands at the University of North Texas, which is the first school to have a jazz program, he said. The University of North Texas has nine big bands, which is unheard of in most schools.

Dickey got a master’s degree in jazz performance at the Florida International University, and while in Florida, he even had his own jazz radio show in Miami.

Dickey credits jazz greats such as Count Basie, Thad Jones and Woody Herman as his inspirations. His band plays many of their songs – or in jazz lingo, charts – in performances.

For Wednesday though, the band will perform charts from guest performers.

Recruiting guest performers for shows was one main goal for Dickey, who seems to be a one-man recruiting machine. Dickey recruited University faculty, students and alumni to join his band. Everyone was very excited, he said.

Jim Pugh, one of the newest faculty members at the University School of Music, has been one of the top studio musicians for the past 20 years.

“He was one of my heroes,” Dickey said.

He added that it’s huge for the school that he’s here.

Though the band was only started in August, Dickey has many goals and plans. One of Dickey’s main goals is to obtain grant money in order to record the band.

The band has also been playing regularly. One of their main gigs is at the Iron Post in Urbana, which they usually play at twice a month. Dickey also has plans to perform at other local venues and have a performance with swing dancers from the University.

Dickey enjoys playing at the Iron Post because he said there’s a lot of energy and it’s an explosive atmosphere.

“It’s really fun being in front of the band instead of playing with the band,” he said. “You hear different things. You hear the full balance. It’s nice to hear all the different colors.”

The “Dave Dickey Big Band” with special guests Bobby Shew, Jim Pugh, and Joel Spencer at the Krannert Center Great Hall Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 / Senior Citizen $6 / Student $4. For more information about the “Dave Dickey Big Band” visit www.davedickeybigband.com.