It is here in Music Recital Hall, surrounded by the basketball-court beige walls and among rows of magenta seating, where you’ll hear the aural contrast of jazz, funk and Afro-Caribbean sounds during the concert finale to the 28th annual Festival of New American Music.

Critically acclaimed trombonist, composer and arranger Wayne Wallace will pair up with the Sacramento State Jazz Ensemble and the Latin Jazz Ensemble beginning at 8 p.m. on Sunday to perform a free hour and a half concert.

The mambo sounds of “Esta Noche” and the funk-driven Latin jazz of “Three in One” will cap off the 11-day series of events, currently underway, dedicated to the contemporary music of national, local and Sacramento State artists and composers.

Sophomore criminal justice major Aaron Routtenberg is excited to play with Wallace. The timbale player in his second year with the Latin Jazz Ensemble said it would be a rewarding, albeit challenging experience.

“He’s a great writer, great composer,” said Routtenberg. “He has a lot of passion for what he does and some of the stuff he writes is pretty deep.”

Director of Jazz Studies Steve Roach said the performance would also double as a CD release party. The Latin Jazz Ensemble will debut the nine-track “Pasando el Tiempo,” a work that includes many tracks written and featuring Wallace. This is the first album by the Latin Jazz Ensemble since the 2002 release “Con Sentimento.”

Roach wanted a guest artist on the second album and since the group was already playing the works of Wallace they invited him to do his thing over the pre-recorded tracks.

“It was really, really awesome,” said Roach, an assistant professor in the Music Department who has led both ensemble groups since arriving at Sac State in 2001. “It’s probably a really neat experience for him to be called to come in, and to see a college performing his music must be a great compliment.”

The San Francisco native has performed with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, Gladys Knight, Curtis Mayfield, Boz Scaggs, Tito Puente, Sammy Davis Jr., Pete Escovedo and Chris Isaak among others.

Wallace has released solo albums titled “Echoes in Blue” and “Three in One” on top of a long list of albums he has worked on as a sideman or composer.

“I play a variety of sounds,” Wallace said. “I’m probably best known for playing Latin jazz. I come from a rhythm and blues background, or funk background, so I tend to infuse some of that into the Latin jazz.”

Before the Sunday show, Wallace will look at the relationship between Afro-Caribbean and North American music in a workshop at 1 p.m., Saturday at American River College.

The workshop will not be foreign territory for Wallace, described by Roach as “a big educator.”

Wallace teaches or has taught at San Francisco State, San Jose State, the Jazz School, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Jazz Camp West, and the San Francisco Arts and Humanities Elder Hostel Program.

This fall, at the Jazz School in Berkeley, Wallace teaches two courses: Composition and Songwriting, Getting It Together – Putting Theory Into Practice and Trombone Combo. He credits his experiences performing with artists such as Pearl Bailey to adding another dimension to what you can learn out of books.

“Being a professional musician who is out in the field playing, and then coming into the classroom and offering that side of it to whatever else is available through academia, I think it adds something that the students really enjoy,” Wallace said.

Nate Miller can be reached at [email protected].