Crosstown Arts
The Central Atrium
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Show begins at 6:30 pm
Tickets: Free
Standard 4-Pack is led by Victor Sawyer and features Randy Ballard (trumpet), Victor Sawyer (trombone), Stephen Lee (piano), and Neal Bowen (bass), performing a selection of favorite jazz standards.
The Central Atrium
Friday, March 17, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Under the direction of Dr. Michael Shults, University of Memphis Jazz Combo 1 is the top performing small group jazz ensemble at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The all-star combo specializes in compositions by post-bop jazz masters including Wayne Shorter, Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, and Memphis’s own James Williams.
Nathan Graybeal, alto saxophone
Eli Wyatt, tenor saxophone
Jacob Loreant, guitar
Logan Clark, bass
Jacob Bross, drums
The Central Atrium
Saturday, March 11, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
With a lineage that goes back to the late 1890s, the University of Mississippi’s jazz ensemble is one of the oldest in the nation. By 1927, the group adopted the name “The Mississippians,” which is still in use today by the premier ensemble of Ole Miss Jazz. Throughout the 20 th century, Ole Miss Jazz groups performed regularly at social functions on campus, gave concerts, and toured throughout the South. More recently, Ole Miss Jazz groups have performed at the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival in South Bend, IN, the National Convention of the Jazz Education Network, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy. The Mississippians Jazz Ensemble will perform this summer at Jazz à Juan and Jazz in Marciac festivals in France and Jazzaldia in Spain.
Directed by Dr. Michael Worthy, Ole Miss Jazz includes two 18-piece big bands (The Mississippians and The Collegians), two student combos, a faculty combo, a traditional jazz combo, and the UM Salsa Project in collaboration with the Percussion Studio under the direction of Prof. Ricky Burkhead.
Learn more at: www.jazz.olemiss.edu
The East Atrium
Saturday, March 4, 2023
Show begins at 6:30 pm
Tickets: Free
Le Tumulte Noir is a Memphis-based jazz group that specializes in music from the 1930s and 1940s in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stéphanne Grappelli (often referred to as “gypsy jazz”). The group is celebrating its 10th year and features John Bass, Sylvester Sample, Gary Topper, Clint Wagner, and John Whittemore.
The Central Atrium
Friday, March 3, 2023
Show begins at 6 pm
Tickets: Free
Founded in 1909 and known as “THEE” high school because Central was the first High School in Memphis, the band program was vital to the school culture from its inception. The award-winning Memphis Central High School Jazz Band has been in existence for many years and has produced many talented musicians such as pianist James Williams, saxophonist Gary Topper, pianist Dr. Ashley Davis. The band has been the winner of the University of Memphis Jazz Band festival as well as Jazz Festivals in St. Louis; Mobile, AL; in Disney World; and others around the mid-South. Central High SchoolJazz Band students are routinely members of the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association’s All-West Jazz Band as well as Tennessee’s All-State Jazz Band. The Jazz Band was selected, through a blind peer review process as a finalist for the 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019 Savannah Swing Central National Jazz Band Competition in Savannah, GA. The band won the Jean Faircloth award and first place in 2019. In 2020, The Memphis Central High School Jazz band was named finalist for the 25 th and 26 th Annual Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival. More recently, the jazzband was selected and performed at the 2022 Tennessee Music Educators State Conference and the 2023 Jazz Education Network International Conference. The Jazz band is one of several performing ensembles in the Central High band program which includes marching band, wind ensemble, symphonic band, concert band, pep band, percussion ensemble, as well as other small chamber ensembles.
Crosstown Arts presents Strictly Jazz: The Music of Bill Evans in the Green Room.
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Doors at 6:30 pm | Show at 7 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance | $20 at the door
The Crosstown Strictly Jazz Series, presented by Strictly Jazz Entertainment in collaboration with Crosstown Arts, is designed to salute classic jazz music as contemporary musicians perform the work of the legends.
This show features Gerald Stephens (piano), Art Edmaiston (tenor saxophone), Marc Franklin (trumpet/flugelhorn), Neal Bowen (bass), and Mike Assad (drums) with a special live painting experience by RODAN.
About Strictly Jazz:
Strictly Jazz Entertainment is committed to cultivating a growing community in the knowledge and appreciation of jazz. Strictly Jazz Entertainment facilitates dialogue and collaboration between the devoted supporters of jazz and the brand new constituents — those new to the genre — for the furthering of the jazz community. Strictly Jazz provides a bridge between leading artists and a community that typically does not embrace jazz by promoting concerts in various venues to generate an atmosphere that is viable for the absorption of pure jazz.