Thank you to all of you who attended the 2015 Emory Jazz Festival. All three nights of the festival were completely sold out: standing room only.
Irvin Mayfield and his exceptional group of remarkable musicians, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, thoroughly entertained the regulars and visitors from the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series. Bob McKay, the Managing Director of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, coordinated a rousing jazz addition to the Candler Concert Series.
For two nights, the Gary Motley Trio, featuring Motley on piano along with bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Carl Allen, showed the enthusiastic and appreciative Emory audience how professionals interpret jazz communication and performance.
On the first night, the trio accompanied one of the best jazz violinists of our age, Regina Carter. Ms. Carter demonstrated her mastery of interpretation and creativity as she impressed the full house with her ability to bring life to traditional and new tunes.
On Saturday night, an overflowing crowd required a second row of chairs in the balcony. The Trio performed new music from Gary Motley’s recent CD, Departure with assistance from vocalist Alex Lattimore. The Emory Big Band blew the roof off and brought the full house to their feet! The Big Band demonstrated the technical prowess and personal gifts of the Emory students as well as the successful efforts of the Emory Jazz Studies program to teach and prepare them to perform on such a high level.
Gary Motley, director of the Emory Jazz Studies program, and his staff continue to focus on improving and fine tuning the student experience to enable growth and improved performance. This work requires and deserves your financial support. Please join the Emory Jazz Alliance as we continue to promote and support student education, live performance, and community outreach. A gift from you will pay huge dividends for the students in the Emory Jazz Studies program. If you have joined in the past, consider increasing your level of support. If you have been sitting on the sidelines, consider joining now so that you can help continue the good work of the Jazz Studies Program and join the greater Emory Arts Community.
You know you love jazz music. You know you love hearing interesting and intriguing jazz performances on the Emory campus. Go to the Emory Jazz Alliance web site today to make sure that jazz remains at Emory forever!
Sincerely,
Hank Siegelson
President, Emory Jazz Alliance