NIU Jazz Lab Band

The NIU Jazz Lab Band (also known as The New NIU Jazz Ensemble) is a jazz big band at the Northern Illinois University School of Music directed by Rodrigo Villanueva. The group performs advanced and intermediate material covering a wide variety of jazz styles, including new works composed and arranged by NIU faculty and students. They recorded their debut album Quintessence in 2011. The Jazz Lab Band regularly participates in festivals and competitions and performs at least six concerts per year. The group won first place in the College Jazz Big Band division at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Jazz Festival in 2008 and 2010. In 2010 and 2014 they were featured at the Illinois Music Education Conference, and the latter performance was released on DVD. The ensemble has performed with several international artists, including Allen Vizzutti, Fareed Haque, Kelly Sill, Stefan Karlsson, Liam Teague, Art Davis, Tom Garling, Gary Smulyan, Mark Colby and Wayne Bergeron.