A Thursday concert kicks off an important year for the Slippery Rock University Jazz Ensemble that will culminate in a trip overseas.

“This is the first of about a half dozen or more performances we'll do throughout the year,” said SRU professor Jason Kush.

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and will include two guest artists who started out in Butler County, a new feature that will be continued in future years, according to Kush.

Guest artist Michael Boscarino, formerly of Cranberry Township, is a current member of the band Blood, Sweat and Tears.

The other guest artist, Patrick Kennedy, a Butler High School graduate and SRU alumna, is a drummer and world champion in the V-Drums World Championships. He is also a product manager for the international company, Roland, which produces instruments and other music products.

“The plan is to do this forevermore in October featuring jazz artists (who) are prominent in the U.S., (who) got their start in Butler County, and there are many of them,” he said.

Boscarino and Kennedy will spend some time with the students in SRU's ensemble. Students will accompany the artists during the concert.

“Our students are playing on a professional level,” Kush said. “They're students, but they're playing at a very high level.”

Kush said jazz music has strong ties to the growth of American culture, and it appeals to a wide audience. Those attending Thursday's concert will hear a variety of jazz, swing, Latin and jazz-influenced funk and rock music.

“We play a great variety of music within the jazz idiom,” Kush said. “It's an American art style that has a really good fan base,”

Kush said the concert always draws great interest from the community, which he says has many jazz lovers.

He said having a strong showing will provide the students with the confidence they will need to tackle a trip to Europe this summer.

The ensemble traveled to Russia in the 1980s and did two European tours in 2000 and 2006.

“We've been wanting to go for a while,” Kush said. “We're trying to keep that going.”