News-Current Report
BEAVERCREEK – Grammy Award-winning bandleader Gordon Goodwin will headline the 16th annual will headline the 16th annual “Weekend of Jazz” music festival March 3-5 hosted by the Beavercreek Music Parents Association.
Goodwin and his 18-piece ensemble, Big Phat Band, have a contemporary, highly original big band sound with compositions in swing, Latin, blues, rock and classical jazz styles. The band’s list of collaborators reads like a list of jazz greats, and includes artists such as Gerald Albright, Chick Corea, Dave Koz, Johnny Mathis, David Sanborn and Arturo Sandoval.
Goodwin and the Big Phat Band will perform 8 p.m. Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5.
In addition to headline performances by professional musicians on Friday and Saturday evenings, the festival features a wide variety of learning opportunities for students in the form of master classes and a school jazz band festival, which features exhibition performances by 24 high school and middle school jazz bands and 10 jazz combos from throughout the region. During the school festival, held all day Saturday, March 5, professional jazz musicians, clinicians, and educators will observe, evaluate and critique each group. The groups then meet with the evaluator, who provides feedback and works with the bands to improve their performances. During master classes, professionals work with groups of students to teach them about musicianship, technique and jazz performance. These opportunities consistently rank as one of the highlights for student participants.
Both headline and student performances are held in Alumni Auditorium at Beavercreek High School, 2660 Dayton-Xenia Road. Tickets for the headline performances are $35 for adults and $25 for students and senior citizens, and can be purchased online at www.weekendofjazz.org. All student performances are free and open to the public.
