The annual MTSU Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival celebrates jazz music and education. Held this year on Saturday, March 29, the day-long festival will feature a packed slate of jazz at MTSU, which has a connection to legendary swing saxophonist Illinois Jacquet, as his daughter has endowed the university with funds for a scholarship.
This year’s festival will include a performance by acclaimed alto saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón, known for his deep knowledge and incorporation of Puerto Rican folk and dance music traditions.
“He is a virtuoso saxophone player, and I look forward to getting to know him a little bit,” says Jamey Simmons, director of jazz studies at MTSU, as he prepares to participate in Zenón’s performance. “It’s pushing me, it’s challenging me.”
Zenón, who won a 2024 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for his El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2 release, will perform with the university’s big band as well as in a small group setting with students.
The late jazz tenor saxophonist Jean-Baptiste “Illinois” Jacquet,
shown here at a 1998 concert at Brecon, Wales. Photo by William Ellis
The festival honors the legacy of tenor saxophonist/band leader Illinois Jacquet, who rose to prominence in the 1940s with the big bands of Count Basie and Lionel Hampton.
The festival includes a full day of clinics and concerts, showcasing players from middle schoolers to MTSU students and faculty performers to pros.
The highlight of the day will be a 5:30 p.m. concert featuring Zenón joining the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I held in the Hinton Hall of the MTSU Wright Music Building. Earlier in the day, Zenón will lead a 3:30 p.m. clinic, also in the Hinton Hall.
The fest kicks off with ensemble performances at 8:30 a.m. A jazz jam session begins at 10 a.m. and at 2:15 p.m. jazz faculty will conduct a Q&A session—The Art of Small Group Jazz Performance—among other activities. All events occur in the Wright and Saunders music buildings on the MTSU campus.
Evening concert tickets are free for MTSU students, faculty and staff and $10 for the general public.
For more details on the March 29 Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival and the MTSU jazz program, visit music.mtsu.edu/jazzfest or contact Jamey Simmons at james.simmons@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2724.
