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The Jazz Club of Sarasota's 2014 Joy of Jazz concert series will conclude with Tom Ellison and Hip Pocket on March 9 at 2 p.m. in Centennial Park in downtown Venice, the club has announced. The concert will be free, but donations will be accepted in support of the Jazz Club's schol- arship fund, a news release points out. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blan- kets. For more information, call 366-1552 or visit jazzclubsarasota.org. Ellison took up the saxophone at age 7, the release says, and by the time he was 12, he had already played his first professional gig, performing with his father's band. "That concert sparked Ellison's lifelong passion for live performance and marked the begin- ning of an illustrious musical career that has included performing with such greats as Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Woody Herman, Aretha Franklin, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Four Tops and the Temptations," the release continues. Ellison stayed busy in the Rochester, NY, music scene before he moved to Venice in 2010, the release notes. In Venice, "he quickly joined the Suncoast's flourishing jazz circuit," the release adds. He is a member of several regional ensembles, including the Naples Jazz Orchestra, the Ken Loomer Big Band and the Sarasota Jazz Project Big Band. JOY OF JAZZ SERIES TO CONCLUDE WITH ELLISON AND HIP POCKET Tom Ellison/Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader March 7, 2014 Page 122