Two musicians whose names are at the forefront when one thinks of jazz in Southwest Louisiana will appear together in a Christmas concert on Sunday.

“Jazz in the Arts Presents Chester Daigle and Rick Condit in Concert” will be presented at 5 p.m. at the Central School Theater, 809 Kirby St.

The teamwork is nothing new. Pianist Daigle and saxophonist Condit have been performing together around the community for 25 years.

“We always have a lot of fun playing together,” Condit said.

“I can’t think of a venue in which we haven’t played … for major caterers, private parties, the casinos and so on.”

Sunday’s program will be music that is on the players’ CD, “The Greatest Gift Is Love.”

“We always play a lot of events at holiday time, and the audiences seem to enjoy it so much, we said, ‘Hey. Why not record it?’” he said.

The music is the traditional carols and hymns in a smooth jazz style, as opposed to hard-core, driving jazz forms. Copies of the CD will be on sale at the concert.

Condit retired in May from teaching at McNeese State University, where he built the jazz program from a part-time band to a full curriculum.

“Chester and I have been friends and colleagues for 25 years,” Condit said, “and he’s the first guy I call for accompaniment when somebody asks me to play. He’s a kind and gentle person, and through his health problems, including losing his sight, he never complains.

“Wherever we go, even if my name is on the poster, people walk right past me to shake Chester’s hand or give him a hug.”

Condit said he has seen an increasing appreciation for jazz in the community, encouraged by the McNeese jazz program, the Arts & Humanities Council of Southwest Louisiana and the McNeese Banners series. Appreciation of jazz music requires more effort on the part of the audience than does the typical pop music of today.

“I have been on the Banners committee for 20 years, and on the audience evaluation forms we receive, the jazz programs are among the favorite concerts in the series,” Condit said.

To speak of jazz as one genre is ambiguous because of the many styles under its umbrella, Condit said.

“To describe a program, you have to be more specific, because jazz includes the French ‘hot club’ music, smooth jazz, Dixieland and many others,” he said. Around the world ethnic musical elements are infused into jazz from America to make a style that is specific to that particular location.

Condit has been an active saxophonist and jazz educator for more than 30 years. He has taught and performed in 26 countries on five continents. In 2002 he spent six months as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the George Enescu University of the Arts in Romania while on leave from his post as director of jazz studies and associate professor of saxophone at McNeese. Since then he has returned to Romania nine times for concerts, clinics and other Fulbright-related projects.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Condit spent more than 10 years there as a freelance professional, performing with such noted artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Bellson, Ray Brown, Oliver Nelson, Bob Hope and the San Francisco Symphony Pops Orchestra. During this period he also toured for over a year as tenor sax soloist with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, presenting concerts and clinics in 46 states, Canada and Japan.

Condit received his master of music degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas, where he was a graduate teaching fellow and member of the One O’Clock Lab Band. His own group, the Louisiana Jazz 5, has toured France and Central America and performed at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference. Condit and guitarist Tom Wolfe toured five countries in West Africa as Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassadors, and he has been the recipient of a Louisiana Artist’s Fellowship.

Under Condit’s direction, the McNeese Jazz Ensemble has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Festival Internationale (Nice, France), the IAJE Conference, and twice in residency at Disney World. Recent guest artists have included Bobby Sanabria and Quartetto Ache, the Yosvanny Terry Quartet, the Rosanna Eckert Quartet, the Arturo O’Farrill Quintet, Nneena Freelon, Hiromi, Roberta Gambarini and The Marcus Roberts Trio.

In May 2010 the McNeese Jazz Ensemble toured Romania performing eight concerts in seven cities.

Sunday’s concert is a worthwhile benefit, Condit said. Proceeds will go to the Chester Daigle Scholarship Fund, which will help local graduating high school seniors attending college in the arts. The group sponsors fundraising concerts quarterly and holds a summer music workshop.

Backing up Daigle and Condit will be Jay Ecker, Jeff Simon, James Bill, Sylvia Hankin, Verlin Chretien, Yvette Chretien Edwards, Christopher Chretien and Michael Chretein. The evening will feature a special performance by violinist Jairus Daigle.

A silent auction will take place at 4 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door and can be purchased at the Arts Council office at Central School.

Pianist Chester Daigle and saxophonist Rick Condit will play music from their Christmas album

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