The Canadian Jazz Collective brings its unique blend of Canadian jazz to UB on March 25 in a free concert in Slee Hall.

The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee. No tickets are required.

Co-led by three of Canada’s most admired jazzists — Kirk MacDonald, saxophonist/composer; Derrick Gardner, trumpeter/composer; and Lorne Lofsky, guitarist/composer — the collective recently completed its second European tour of 16 sold-out, standing-room-only concerts that included two nights at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London.

The tour launched the group’s debut album, “Septology - the Black Forest Session.”

In addition to MacDonald, Gardner and Lofsky, the band features clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, pianist Brian Dickenson, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Bernd Reiter.

The Canadian Jazz Collective formed in 2022 with the goal of taking a collaborative approach to the performance of Canadian jazz. George Caldwell, professor of practice (jazz piano) and director of the student jazz ensemble at UB, says that the collective’s repertoire “consists of originals from Kirk, Derrick and Lorne — all specially arranged for the septet by blending the unique artistic visions of each leader into one cohesive voice.”

This concert isn’t Gardner’s first time performing at UB: He played trumpet with the UB Faculty Jazz Quartet in Slee Hall in 2019. The faculty quartet members included Caldwell on piano, as well as several other of UB’s top jazz faculty.