The performance, which will begin at 7:30 p.m., will span genres, including big band swing jazz, new school funk and soul, and it will feature compositions by Count Basie, Wycliff Gordon, James Brown, Herbie Hancock. MSU jazz professor Ryan Matzinger will direct the jazz ensembles. 

Perkins, an MSU Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship alumnus and former MSU Bobcat Football player, has run Justus Entertainment Group for over 20 years in Bozeman and was named to the Top 20 under 40 list by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in 2013. His company supports a minority mentorship program called Focused and Motivated Minority, or FAMM. He is the father of five children, and his three sons, Jaden, Jaren and Justus, currently play football for Montana State.   

The concert will be held in conjunction with a series of film screenings and educational events across Bozeman in recognition of Black History Month. The film series, sponsored by MSU’s Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons, or DISC, features acclaimed films from past decades and today that examine cultural issues important to the Black community.  

MSU News Service