THOMASVILLE- A night of steamy New Orleans-style jazz is on tap for Thomasville Entertainment Foundation on Tuesday evening, as acclaimed trumpeter and vocalist Byron Stripling brings his quartet to the Thomasville Center for the Arts on February 18.

Ticket availability is very limited for the performance, as Stripling transforms his concert into a Mardi Gras celebration, letting the good times roll with music from Big Easy natives like Fats Domino, Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong.

“Response has been very strong for this fun evening of great music, from both season ticket holders and single ticket purchasers,” explained TEF Executive & Artistic Director Rick Ivey. “We are down to a handful of seats, so anyone interested should act quickly.”

A featured performer on some 50 albums and CDs, Stripling earned his stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra. The Georgia native has played and recorded extensively with the bands of Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, and Buck Clayton in addition to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, among others.

Stripling has been a featured soloist at the Hollywood Bowl and on the PBS television special, “Evening at Pops,” with conductors John Williams and Keith Lockhart, and serves as artistic director and conductor of the highly acclaimed Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

Tickets are $40 for adults, $15 for students, and all seats are reserved. A limited number of free Tickets for Teens are available for local high school students, funded in part by a grant from the Thomasville Antiques Show Foundation and an anonymous gift to TEF’s Education Fund.

For tickets or more information, call 229-226-7404.

Warning of potential ticket scams when quantifies are limited, Ivey said TEF does not offer digital tickets, and only tickets printed and distributed by Thomasville Entertainment Foundation are valid for admission. TEF maintains purchaser information on every concert ticket sold and is happy to answer concerns about the legitimacy of any ticket being offered for resale.