Critically acclaimed jazz musician Cyrus Chestnut will swing his swanky groove into Schwab Auditorium tonight to tell a few "earth stories" with his music.

Sponsored by the Center for the Performing Arts, The Cyrus Chestnut Trio will perform jazz instrumentals from Chestnut's acclaimed albums, Revelation, The Dark Before the Dawn, Earth Stories, and Blessed Quietness. Though much of his work is instrumental, many songs have religious undertones, an inspiration derived from watching his father play hymns on the piano at Calvary Star Baptist Church in Baltimore as a child.

As for tonight's show, the audience will watch Chestnut himself grace the ivories with the same ease as his father did, according to Laura Sullivan, director of marketing and communications for the Center of the Performing Arts.

"It's a good concert to go to if you want to get the feel of jazz," Sullivan said, adding that Schwab's historic atmosphere will no doubt give Chestnut's concert more depth.

Jazz concerts, she said, give more creative leeway to performers for improvisational material, an added bonus for listeners.

"You're going to get to see something more than on his albums," Sullivan said. "You can see them interact with each other, especially if they're in tune."

Chestnut will also precede his concert with an hour-long artistic viewpoint session, which in short, will be a question/answer/conversation session.

"It's not often that we get the actual artists interacting with the audience," Sullivan said. "It should be great."

Chestnut's concert is one of too few jazz concerts put on by the Center for the Performing Arts this semester, an observation noted by Penn State student Josef Behling (senior-operation and information system management).

"It's too bad that any kind of jazz has to be 'brought in' to State College," Behling said. "I've wondered if it's a reflection of the music program at Penn State, and the kind of music most students here play."

Behling is pleased to be able to see more diversity, particularly jazz, permeate Penn State's entertainment enterprise, but said he keeps a level head about how much to expect in the future.

"I don't really expect a small town to have much music that isn't the most popular among the younger people majoring in engineering, business and liberal arts," he said.

For Behling, there will be at least one more go after Chestnut, when nine-time Grammy Award winner Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra come to town with its applauded United in Swing on April 6 in Eisenhower Auditorium.

As for the Cyrus Chestnut Trio, the show begins at 8 tonight in Schwab Auditorium. But those wanting to chat with Chestnut prior to the show are asked to be there by 7 p.m. Accompanying him on stage are bassist Michael Hawkins and drummer Neal Smith.

Tickets are priced at $22 for general admission but Penn State students can slide in after slipping $7 and a student I.D. to the cashier.