PORTLAND – Trombonist Scott Reeves will return to Maine for a rare Portland appearance with the Andrea Polinelli/Scott Reeves Nu-Jazz Sextet Saturday, Sept. 25. The performance will be at 8 p.m. at the Center for Cultural Exchange, One Longfellow Square.

Reeves was director of jazz studies at the University of Southern Maine for 10 years. He left in 2000 to teach at the City College of New York and joined the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music.

Besides teaching, Reeves has been performing in New York with the Dave Liebman Big Band, the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, the Lew Anderson Big Band and his own group, Manhattan Bones.

While touring in Italy, Reeves collaborated with Polinelli, an Italian saxophonist, and they formed their Nu-Jazz Sextet.

Nu-jazz, a phrase coined in the late 1990s, refers to styles that combine jazz textures and sometimes jazz instrumentation with electronic music.

Their Nu-Jazz sextet layers standard jazz repertoire and originals with funk and contemporary grooves, electronic atmospheric sounds and free flights of improvisation, to create a contemporary perspective.

Polinelli is a saxophonist, teacher and composer, highly regarded in Europe for his explorations of cutting-edge jazz and experimental music.

Most recently, he collaborated with Japanese buto dancer Masaki Iwana in a live performance for the Japanese Institute of Culture. Polinelli was born in Genoa, Italy, but moved to London at the age of 4.

He then lived in Brussels and Paris before returning to Rome, where he lives now. He has a daughter who also lives in Rome and a sister who lives in Cape Elizabeth.

Other members of the Nu-Jazz Sextet are Janet Reeves, principal keyboardist for the Portland Symphony Orchestra; bassist Chris van Voorst van Beest; drummer Mark Dodge; and Maine based guitarist/composer Mark Kleinhaut.

Tickets are $15 at the door, $12 in advance and $10 for students. For tickets and more information, people may all (207) 761-1545.