The Monday Night Concert Series starts its summer jazz festival with composer Rick Shandling at 7 p.m. Monday, May 27, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Rick Shandling’s Jazz Coalition is a music group that performs the full spectrum of contemporary acoustic-based jazz in special arrangements of jazz standards and original compositions by Shandling who features an unusual lineup of French horn, trumpet, sax, vibraphone, bass and drums.

Shandling, a drummer and composer, is regularly featured in the Chicago area jazz circuit and has presented his own original music and arrangements in multiple concerts. Also, he has participated in educational school programs focusing on progressive jazz forms.

In fact, Shandling and his jazz group – the Jazz Coalition – have received grants for educational performances from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council and the Lake County Arts Council, in addition to a variety of suburban cultural arts commissions.

Shandling is a professional piano technician, tuning and repairing pianos in homes, libraries, studios and concert venues. In addition, he is a drum set teacher for beginning, intermediate and professional-level students.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.