Swing and jump blues band Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, one of the top swing and jump blues bands in the country, will perform on Saturday, April 13 at the University of Delaware. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in Mitchell Hall.

The band, which topped the Billboard Jazz Charts for 20 straight weeks, features some of the finest musicians available on horns, guitar, piano, bass and drums. Smith, known as a diva of the swing scene, evokes the era of jazz queens while adding her own modern, feminist twist to performances.

Smith and her eight-piece band will be performing from their large repertoire of classics by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Louis Jordan in addition to original compositions.

In addition to the performance, a Jump, Jam and Jive buffet dinner is scheduled for concert-goers at the Blue and Gold Club, Kent Way, Newark. Cost is $12.50 for adults and $6.50 for children ages 5-11 with gratuity included. The menu includes finger-licking pan seared blackened salmon and sizzling flank steak with roasted shallot sauce. Seating begins at 5:30 p.m. For reservations or more information, call (302) 831-2582.

Admission for the concert is $15 for the general public, $10 for UD faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens and $6 for students and children. For more information visit the performing arts web site at [http://www.udel.edu/performingarts] or call (302) 831-8741.

The University of Delaware 2001-2002 Performing Arts Series and Family Series is made possible, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware, as well as the generous support provided by Barba & Reynolds Insurance Agency, Embassy Suites-Newark/Wilmington South and Arby's.

March 26, 2002