The name, Chris Vadala, might not ring a bell but the music will, especially for those who are “children of the 60’s.”

World-renowned saxophone artist, Chris Vadala, will be the featured artist at the TroyFest Jazz Concert series Saturday, April 24 in the outdoor jazz theater across from Byrd Drugs in downtown Troy.

The Jazz Concert series will feature local high school and Troy University jazz bands throughout the day with Troy University’s No. 1 Jazz Band taking the stage for the Grand Finale at 5:30 p.m. under the direction of Ray Smith. At 6 p.m. Vadala will join Smith and the Troy University Jazz Band in concert.

“Chris Vadala is one of the most active studio musicians, clinicians and recitalists in the world,” Smith said of the guest artist.

“He has played saxophone on more than 300 albums and has played for just about everyone, the most notable is Chuck Mangione who sold millions of copies all over the world during the 1960s.”

Vadala performed with the Chuck Mangione Quartet in all 50 states, Canada, Australia, Japan, Philippines, China, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, England, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, and Switzerland.

He has performing credits on five gold and two platinum albums, plus two Grammy, one Emmy, one Georgie (AGVA) and one Golden Globe Award.

In addition, Vadala has performed and/or recorded with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Chick Corea, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Placido Domingo, Sarah Vaughn, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Henry Mancini, Doc Severinsen, Joe Lovano, and many others.

As of 2009, he became a regular member of the Award-Winning Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and has been the first call saxophonist with National Symphony Orchestra for many years.

Vadala holds a PhD in music and is the director of jazz studies, a saxophone professor and a distinguished scholar-teacher at the University of Maryland.

He recently released his first solo album titled, “Out of the Shadows.”

“We are very honored to have Chris Vadala perform on stage here at the 2010 TroyFest Jazz Concert,” Smith said. “We invite everyone who loves great jazz to join us Saturday night for the grand finale of the Jazz Concert series.”

The Jazz Concert stage will be covered as will the seating area for the audience.

So, no matter what the weather conditions, all will be well under the big tent.

The concert is being sponsored in part by the Johnson Center for the Arts and the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Southern Arts Federation.