Youth meets experience

“He’s a phenomenal, gifted player,” said Jerry MacKenzie.

And MacKenzie has seen his share of talent. The 76-year-old drummer performed for years with the Stan Kenton Orchestra, a stint that netted him two Grammy awards for “Kenton’s West Side Story” and “Adventures in Jazz.” MacKenzie, based in Metro Detroit, will bring his trio up to East Lansing Friday to share guest artist duties with Gallante at Meridian Community Band’s “Swingin’ in the Spring” concert.

The first half of Friday’s concert will feature the Meridian Community Band, and Gallante will join on a few tunes as a soloist. For the second half, Gallante will play frontman for MacKenzie’s Just Jazz trio.

MacKenzie first learned of Gallante a little over a year ago, when a friend sent him a YouTube video of the young trumpeter playing Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek” at a jazz club in New Jersey. MacKenzie was able to track down the email address of Gallante’s father, and invited Gallante to come play a concert with his trio in Michigan last year. The performance was so successful that he invited Gallante back for another round of Michigan shows this year, including their stop in East Lansing.

While these “boy wonder” shows can often be gimmicky, MacKenzie is convinced that Gallante is the real deal.

“He is in total command of his instrument,” MacKenzie said. “All three of us (in the trio) have the utmost respect for him.”

Gallante, of Alexandria, Va., first picked up the trumpet at the age of 4. While he performs a wide variety of music, jazz has a special place in his heart.

“It’s a special kind of music,” he said. “It’s very expressive.”

Gallante lists trumpet greats like Clifford Brown, Chet Baker and Lee Morgan as some of his favorite artists. He didn’t grow up listening to jazz at home, but was turned on to it by one of his teachers.

“My parents listen to jazz now,” he assured me.

When asked what to expect from the concert, MacKenzie laughs. Gallante is prone to spontaneity, which can surprise even his bandmates.

At the end of last year’s concert with MacKenzie, Gallante pulled out a conga drum that happened to be on stage at the church they were performing in and started playing a beat. MacKenzie stepped out from behind the drum set and joined him on the conga. The two took turns playing solos while the other person kept time.

“It was a completely impromptu thing,” MacKenzie said.

While Gallante has a rare gift, he’s not sure if he wants to pursue the life of a professional musician.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” he said.

Fortunately, he has a few years to figure it out. Gallante is about to finish his first year of high school.

“Swingin’ in the Spring”

Meridian Community Band 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 24 $10/$5 students MacDonald Middle School 1601 Burcham Drive, East Lansing meridiancommunityband.org

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 >> AMERICAN APPETITE: TRANSFORMING FOOD CULTURE OPENING RECEPTION

The Broad Museum’s newest exhibit takes a look at America’s ever-evolving food culture. American Appetite features several items from the MSU collection that illustrate our changing relationship with food from the farm to the factory to the table. The exhibit explores food as symbol, power and memory, and it is curated by museum studies students in MSU’s Curatorial Practices course. 5-7 p.m. FREE. Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, 547 E. Circle Drive, East Lansing. broadmuseum.msu.edu.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 >> MUSIC OF MOTOWN

Award-winning quartet Spectrum is teaming up with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra to bring the classic tunes of the Motown era to the Wharton Center. The lively performance will feature such hits as the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination” and “My Girl,” Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” 8 p.m. $20-47. Wharton Center, 750 E. Shaw Lane, East Lansing. whartoncenter.com.

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 >> BITE SIZE FIT FAIR

Lansing Spartan Youth Organization and Metro Lansing Loses a Million present an afternoon of fitness activities and more with their Bite Size Fit Fair event. The event will feature presentations by community gardeners, chiropractors, fitness instructors and nutritional information specialists, all geared towards informing attendees about resources available to keep kids active and healthy. The event will also feature a screening of “Bite Size,” a documentary about four kids from different cultural backgrounds who are battling childhood obesity. There will also be free and low-cost healthy snacks and music by ALLlove Entertainment. 4-9 p.m. FREE. Lansing Public Media Center, 2500 S. Washington Ave., Lansing. allaniross@gmail.com.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 >> BEERFEST AT THE BALLPARK

Spring is finally here. To celebrate not having to kick back your Belgian ale while wrapped in a pile of blankets by a roaring fire, I’m a Beerhound is hosting its outdoor Beerfest at the Ballpark event. Held at the Cooley Law School Stadium, the festival boasts over 50 Michigan breweries showcasing over 200 beers, ciders, and meads. Along with the liquid libations, the festival will feature live music by Brian Lorente and the Usual Suspects, Bittercreek and Joe Wright. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Old Newsboys Association, a nonprofit group that provides shoes and boots for deserving children. 3 p.m.-8 p.m. $35/$30 adv. Cooley Law School Stadium, 505 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing. beerfestattheballpark.net.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 >> THE GREATER LANSING WOOD CARVING SHOW

Relief sculptures, wildlife themed pieces and caricatures galore will be in great number at the 21st annual Greater Lansing Wood Carving show. The show features exhibitors practicing a variety of woodcarving techniques. Artists will have their creations for sale and will offer demonstrations on how they are made. This year’s show will feature an area for the visually impaired that is completely hands-on, allowing the guests to explore the tactile side of wood carving. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $3/ages 16 and under and the visually impaired FREE. Haslett High School Gymnasium, 5450 Marsh Road, Haslett. miwoodcarvers.com.

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 >> SIKH PARADE

The Lansing-based Guru Nanak Sikh Center invites guests of all race, religion, ethnicity and gender to the 11th annual Sikh Parade. The event will be at Ferris Park, with the parade expected to commence at noon. Following the parade, guests can sample ethnic cuisine, enjoy Sikh music and watch warrior dances. In attendance will be Ausaf Sayeed, consul general of India in Chicago, who will give a speech to attendees, as well as Lansing mayor Virg Bernero. 9 a.m. FREE. Ferris Park, 500 W. Shiawassee St., Lansing. (517) 204- 4171, lansinggurdwara.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26 >> POETRY ATTACK

The trees outside the East Lansing Public Library will soon bear the fruits of Lansing’s poets in the third annual Poetry Attack event. Each year, Poetry Attack sends out a call for submissions for poems. Selected poems are printed, laminated and hung on trees, turning the grove into a gallery. This year’s poems will be hung outside the library, but will later be moved into the shrubs outside of East Lansing City Hall for the East Lansing Art Fair in May. 1-4 p.m. FREE. East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road, East Lansing. poetryattack.com.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26 >> INSTAGRAM WORKSHOP

Learn how to Instagram the most dynamic photo of your next sushi dinner with the Instagram workshop at MICA Gallery. Learn all about the photo-sharing site Instagram, as well as advanced photography techniques that you can execute on your smartphone. The workshop will also feature a hands-on section where guests can learn to make their photos unique with editing applications. Following the workshop, participants will have a chance to put their new skills into practice with a photo walk around the historic Old Town district. 2-4 p.m. FREE. MICA Gallery, 1210 Turner St., Lansing. micagallery.org.

TUESDAY, APRIL 28 >> DOCUMENTARY DOUBLE FEATURE AT STUDIO C!

Studio C! presents a one-night screening of two short documentaries with ties to MSU. First up is “Unchecking the Box,” a film that explores race and ethnicity through the lens of MSU students and professors as they ponder how such classifications as black, white or Hispanic came to exist in the first place. Next up is “The Gay from Gaylord,” a film that follows MSU student and comedian Chris Ryan on a journey back to his small, conservative hometown of Gaylord, Mich., as he examines what it’s like trying to grow up in a place where differences are exposed. Both documentaries are student-led projects from a documentary specialization capstone course. 7 p.m. Studio C!, 1999 Central Park Drive, Okemos. celebrationcinema.com/studioc.