42nd ASU Jazz Festival
April 18 & 20, 2024

April 18, 2024, Thursday

Bobby Watson Workshop
1:00 pm
Joyce J. Bolden Fine Arts Building, Little Theater
Alcorn State University – Lorman Campus

April 20, 2024, Saturday

Vicksburg Convention Center

Morning: High School Jazz Ensembles in Concert
Afternoon: College/University Jazz Ensembles in Concert
4:00 pm – Question and Answer with Bobby Watson
7:00 pm – Mississippi Jazz Educators in Concert
8:00 pm – Bobby Watson Quintet in Concert
JazzFest Schedule

A saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator, Bobby Watson grew up in Kansas City, Kan. He trained formally at the University of Miami, a school with a distinguished and well-respected jazz program. After graduating, he proceeded to earn his “doctorate” – on the bandstand – as musical director of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The group, created in 1955 by late legendary drummer who died in 1990, showcased a rotating cast of players, many who, like Watson, would go on to have substantial careers as bandleaders in their own right. The Jazz Messengers – frequently referred to as the “University of Blakey” – served as the ultimate “postgraduate school” for ambitious young players. After completing a four-year-plus Jazz Messengers tenure (1977-1981) that incorporated more than a dozen recordings – the most of any of the great Jazz Messengers, the gifted Watson became a much-sought after musician, working along the way with a potpourri of notable artists – peers, elder statesmen and colleagues all — including, but not limited to: drummers Max Roach and Louis Hayes, fellow saxophonists George Coleman and a younger Branford Marsalis, celebrated multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (who joined the Jazz Messengers at least in part at the suggestion of Watson). In addition to working with a variety of instrumentalists, Watson served in a supporting role for a number of distinguished and stylistically varied vocalists including: Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Betty Carter and Carmen Lundy.

For a full Bio, visit Bobby’s website @ https://bobbywatson.com/epk/

ASU Jazz Festival Application

All events are free and open to the public

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41st ASU Jazz Festival Grand Finale

April 15, 2023, Saturday

Vicksburg Convention Center

Morning: High School Jazz Ensembles in Concert
Afternoon: College/University Jazz Ensembles in Concert
3:30 pm – Randy Brecker Workshop
7:00 pm – Mississippi Jazz Educators in Concert
8:00 pm – Randy Brecker Quintet in Concert

Featuring

The Randy Brecker Quintet

Multi-Grammy Award winning Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament/Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, Jaco Pastorius, and Frank Zappa. He has performed/recorded with everyone from the original Blood Sweat & Tears, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Larry Coryell’s Eleventh House, Stevie Wonder, Billy Cobham, Patti Austin, George Benson, Michael Franks to Bob James, Mingus Dynasty, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Spyro Gyra, Carley Simon, Pheobe Snow, Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, Gato Barbieri, Ron Carter, Eric Clapton, David Clayton-Thomas, Joe Cocker, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Al Kooper, Hubert Laws, Yoko Ono, Dire Straits, Johnny Hodges, Liza Minnelli, David “Fathead” Newman, Aaron Neville, Robert Palmer, Stanley Turrentine, Tina Turner, Grover Washington Jr, and of course as co-leader with his brother Michael in the ground breaking Brecker Brothers.

For a full Bio, visit Randy’s website @ https://www.randybrecker.com/

All events are free and open to the public.

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41st Alcorn State University Jazz Festival
Days 1 & 2

November 3, 2022, Thursday

Astral Project
1:00pm Workshop, 6:00pm Concert
Little Theater, Joyce Bolden Fine Arts Building
Alcorn State University – Lorman Campus

November 4, 2022, Friday

Astral Project Concert
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Crawford Square (Gordon’s Alley) Downtown Vicksburg, MS
(Weather backup: Strand Theater, 717 Clay Street, Vicksburg)

Astral Project has been entertaining and educating audiences for decades and is unique in the jazz realm in having a steady personnel lineup for so many years. All the musicians are versatile performers who perform regularly in several other groups spanning many styles of music. Most of the members of the group are also jazz professors at Loyola University or at the University of New Orleans. These highly talented musicians are well versed in many genres of music, blending modern jazz, funk, rock, and world music. Members of the group have performed with many high-profile musicians of note, including Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, Mose Allison, Rick Margitza, Professor Longhair, James Booker and John Scofield.
For addition information: https://www.astralproject.com/

All events are free and open to the public.

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40th Anniversary Alcorn State University Jazz Festival

39th Annual

Alcorn State University
Jazz Festival

April 12-13, 2019

Friday, April 12

Workshop & performances

ASU Campus 10AM – Afternoon

 

Saturday, April 13

Workshop – Dee Dee Bridgewater

4:00PM-5:00PM

Performance – MS Jazz Educators

7:00PM

Performance – Dee Dee Bridgewater

8:00PM

 

Denise “Dee Dee” Bridgewater is an American jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National Public Radio’s syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.

All-Day Event – Free – Public Invited

ASU Jazz Festival Application

Contact Information

For more information about the Annual Alcorn State University Jazz Festival, please contact:

• Dr. David Miller, Director (601-877-6602) (FAX: 601-877-6262)
  [email protected]

Listen to the MPB radio broadcast about the Thirtieth Anniversary Alcorn State University Jazz Festival with Dr. David Miller, Festival Director on Mississippi Arts Hour (aired April 11, 2010 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting) available on the following website: Radio Broadcast