When Steve Wiest was trying to name a new trombone group at the University of North Texas, he really, really wanted to avoid the typical cliches.

“I was trying to come up something that didn’t use ‘bone’ because that’s something you see all over the place with trombone groups,” said Wiest, a Grammy nominee and a professor of music at UNT. “I was reading something about the trombone and in one of the descriptions, it said: ‘A wind instrument with a “U” tube shaped slide.’ And that was it. We are U-Tubes.”

Courtesy photo/UNT

The U-Tubes play compositions and arrangements by members of the ensemble and other students at the University of North Texas College of Music. The group plays Saturday at the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival.

The trombone group is one of several UNT ensembles that will perform at the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival this coming weekend. The student ensemble plays modern and classic jazz.

The name is a play on words, referring to the wildly popular Web site where users can upload video they shot themselves and, just as often, video someone else shot.

YouTube.com is a forerunner in viral marketing. Humble footage shot with a sure hand and aided by a clever script or plan can get posted to the site and soon be viewed by millions. Wiest said the reference fits in as much as his students are clever and their material is often fresh.

“We’re definitely fun, not too much on the irreverent side, but definitely fun in the context of the serious modern jazz style. We’ve got both improvisation and very thoughtful orchestrations,” he said.

The new group is made up of eight trombone players, six tenor trombonists, two bass trombonists and a four-member rhythm section.

Dave Richards, a graduate jazz composition student, plays with the group, even though his principal instrument is the trumpet.

“This particular group has two more trombones than most trombone groups have,” Richards said. “We have specialized people to fill specialized roles in the group. Victor Barranco and I play lead, playing in a higher register, which is a little more physically demanding. Three or four individuals are our soloists. Based on what the chart is, everyone gets a chance to solo. The bass trombones cover the low notes.”

Richards said the group plays music written or arranged by U-Tube members or other student composers and arrangers in the college of music.

Wiest said the group is impressive to him, and he’s charged with fine-tuning and listening critically to their work.

“The trombonists and the rhythm section both are playing at a really professional level,” he said. “The trombonists are playing at, really, an international level — they’re very savvy. Well, I think it’s in the same way that the string section in an orchestra plays. At the same time, having both ends of the listening register, very low sounds and very high sounds. The trombone is, among the wind instruments, closest to the human voice, particularly the male voice. The sound can paint some really nice pastel pictures.”

Wiest said the group will play carefully at the arts festival.

“One of the cool things about this group is there are so many soloists, so in all of our music, there is the context of all these moods that gives us a chance for some really great improvisation,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of tunes. We’ll play an attention-grabbing  loud piece, then slow down into something more romantic sounding, and then end with a big bang. Kind of like a novel.”

Richards said another trombone group existed a while back but hadn’t continued until Wiest came to the university.

“Steve Wiest, I think he’s one of the best things that’s happened to the school in a long time,” Rich­ards said. “He encouraged us to play in different ways, and he’s really en­couraging more modern writing. We’re liking working with him.”

2008 DENTON ARTS & JAZZ FESTIVAL

When: 5 to 11 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 27

Where: Quakertown Park, 321 E. McKinney St.

Details: Free. The U-Tubes play at 6 p.m. Saturday on the Wells Fargo Celebration Stage.

The U-Tubes:

Tenor trombones: Dave Richards, Victor Barranco, David Winslow, Sara Jacovino, Hiroshi Wada, Carl Lundgren

Bass trombones: Jason Hausback, Matt Jefferson

Austin Byrd, piano; Hiroki Uehira, drums; Aaron Flores, guitar; Alex Valdes, bass