Southwestern Michigan College Jazz Ensemble’s “Jazz on the Lawn” New Orleans set outside the Dale A. Lyons Building Oct. 28 previewed “Bayou Breakdown.”

SMC’s fall band concert takes place Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus.

SMC bands will take listeners down the Mississippi River to NOLA, the birthplace of jazz, with music from Louis Armstrong, Cuban conga drummer Ramon “Mongo” Santamaria, Frank Ticheli and Brant Karrick.

Arrive early and make it a night, as Nola Roux’s food truck offers for sale a variety of Cajun dishes such as etouffee and jambalaya from 5 to 7 p.m. in the semi-circle drive outside the Lyons Building.

Alumni are invited to join the bands at the close of the concert for SMC’s Alma Mater.

The concert is free and open to the public.

“We’re going to consider this weather a win,” Director of Bands Mark Hollandsworth noted of the sunshine because “sometimes we deal with sleet and 10 degrees cooler,” though wind kept lifting sheet music airborne off stands.

The Jazz Ensemble opened with “Crescent City Stomp,” featuring Andrew Culver on alto saxophone.

They continued with a 1927 Armstrong tune, written by his wife, Lillian Hardin, “Struttin’with Some Barbecue,” featuring trombonist Sam Crago and tenor saxophonist Joe Rizzo.

In homage to their Oct. 24 trip to Ann Arbor to work with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Jazz Ensemble presented Basie’s “Moten Swing” from 1932.

Santamaria’s “Afro Groove” was followed by the Bourbon Street vibe of “The Mudbug Strut,” complete with sousaphone.

“Come check out the finished product Nov. 7 with the nice meal ahead of time,” Hollandsworth said.

For further information about upcoming band, choir and theatre performances, including the free, public fall play “Red Days” by Rachel Bublitz Nov. 20-23, visit swmich.edu/performances.