Ragtime, Blues & All That Jazz

For the Ragtime, Blues & All That Jazz concert, the Houston Symphony trades Mozart and Wagner for Jelly Roll Morton and Muddy Waters. Principal POPS Conductor Michael Krajewski leads the orchestra in a swinging show that features trumpet player and singer Byron Stripling as the guest artist. Stripling has a stellar reputation and the résumé to go with it (he was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton and Woody Herman bands). Krajewski says it’s not just Stripling’s impeccable technique and styling that make him a favorite with Houston audiences. “He has a really great sense of humor,” Krajewski tells us. “He really connects with the audience and when he starts to talk about the music, he has so much passion and enthusiasm for it, it’s catching.”

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, 615 Louisiana. For information, call 713‑224‑4240 or visit houstonsymphony.org. $25 to $134.

Photo: Byron Stripling

Fri., Oct. 31, 8 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 1, 8 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m., 2014