In the beginning of the 20th century, the streets of New Orleans introduced America to a brand new sound that changed music forever.

That sound was the cool jive and swing of jazz, and it will be showcased tonight at the School of Music's Jazz Combos Concert at the Penn State Downtown Theatre.

"Jazz is definitely a part of us Americans as part of our history, and it's good music," said Faris Beshara, who will play the trombone in the concert.

Beshara (sophomore-music education) said the concert features a lot of improvisation.

"When you're improvising, you're talking from your horn," Beshara said. "It's all coming from you, not anywhere else. It's very intimate."

The concert will feature four different jazz combos from an ensemble jazz class. Each group picked and arranged the music it wanted to perform.

The show will include standard jazz, such as Miles Davis songs, as well as more current music with a jazz spin.

"It's a jazz combos concert, but it's really just various music that we're putting a groove to," said saxophonist Greg Johnson (freshman-saxophone performance). "One group is doing "Iron Man" as a cover, and my group is doing a popular rap tune from the '80s. There is jazz influence, but it's not what you would think of as straight-edged jazz."

Director Mac Himes said some of the students have a lot of previous experience with jazz, while it's new for others. Each group rehearsed with Himes for two hours every week, with emphasis on improvisation.

"It's unique -- it's part of the class, and I help give suggestions, but it's essentially ensembles, and they have the say in what goes on," Himes said. "The main body of the music that you'll hear will be them improvising, just like a traditional jazz group. I think it's unique to other groups at Penn State."

The concert is at 8 tonight at the Citizens Bank Theatre in the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 146 S. Allen St. Admission is free.