Rahsaan Barber of Everyday Magic
It’s that time of year again, when Murfreesboro’s jazz comes out to fest on the downtown Square in celebration of the genre and its great pioneers. With two stages set up on either side of the courthouse, attendees can enjoy twice the jazz on May 4 and May 5 from both local student musicians and professional players.
The earlier slots on Friday and Saturday will go to area high school and middle school jazz bands. They’ll get to show their jazz chops that weekend alongside some incredible local jazz professionals including
- 1940s big band Music City Swing, the only of its kind in Nashville, which has been around for nearly a decade
- The stunningly smooth vocals of Jazz Discovery’s 2000 Vocalist of the Year Connye Florance
- The mad jazz guitar skills of Denny Jiosa, who’s earned notoriety both through his session work and own contemporary jazz releases
- John Coltrane-inspired Nashville quintet Everyday Magic, who broke out with a performance at the Frist Center
- The Kelli Cox Collaborative, an eclectic assembly of jazz musicians who’ve played originals and covers together since 2008
Jamey Simmons, who has participated in JazzFest since 2002, will be directing MTSU’s Jazz Ensemble I in this year’s festival. While Simmons has seen an abundance of nationally and internationally touring talent partake in JazzFest, namely the Phil Woods Quintet and the Cannonball Adderley tribute group, he has a soft spot for the high school bands. In fact, Blackman High School Jazz Band will be performing one of Simmons’ original compositions during its Friday 9:40 p.m. slot.
Extra activities including games, art projects (like creating instruments out of recycled instruments) and a climbing wall will be available for the younger JazzFest attendees. But as Simmons put it in the simplest terms, the greatest aspect of JazzFest will be and has always been “the music.”
Connye Florance
Jazz Fest 2012 Schedule
Friday, May 4
6 p.m. – Eagleville High School Jazz Band
6:30 p.m. – MTCS Jazz Band
7 p.m. – Central Magnet School Jazz Band
7:40 p.m. – Siegel High School Jazz band
8:20 p.m. – Riverdale High School Jazz band
9 p.m. – Oakland High School Jazz Band
9:40 p.m. – Blackman High School Jazz band
10:20 p.m. – Smyrna High School Jazz Band
11 p.m. – LaVergne High School Jazz Band
Saturday, May 5
2012 Kroger (West) Stage Schedule
11 a.m. – Siegel Middle School
11:30 a.m. – Smyrna Middle School
12 p.m. – Stewart’s Creek Middle School
12:30 p.m. – Rockvale Middle School
1 p.m. – Seymour High School (Knoxville)
1:40 p.m. – St Rose Middle School
2:10 p.m. – Oakland Middle School
2:40 p.m. – TN School For the Blind
3:50 p.m. – All Rutherford Co Jazz Band
4:30 p.m. – First Fruit Jazz Project
5:15 p.m. – Music City Swing
Main (East) Stage Schedule
12 p.m. – MTSU Jazz Ensemble
1 p.m. – The Kelli Cox Collaborative
2 p.m. – MYJO
3 p.m. – Everyday Magic
4 p.m. – Connye Florence
5:30 p.m. – Denny Jiosa
7 p.m. – 129th US Army Jazz Band Ensemble
