The five-day jazz festival will include everything from jazz performances to a family-friendly street festival to a jazz-related exhibit at the Huntington Museum of Art. It will feature community activities for people of all ages, appealing not only to jazz aficionados but to lovers of music, art and literature. The activities will culminate with two back-to-back nights of historical performances from the Marsalis Family Quintet, Arturo O’Farrill and the O’Farrill Family Quartet, and Jon Batiste of the Stephen Colbert Show.
The Marsalis family has been “America’s First Family of Jazz,” including co-artistic directors and NEA Jazz Masters Ellis and Jason Marsalis, who will be joined by family members Branford Marsalis and Delfeayo Marsalis in a rare family performance. Also highlighted at the festival will be performances by the Jon Batiste Trio and “America’s First Family of Afro-Latin Jazz,” five-time Grammy and Latin Grammy award winner Arturo O’Farrill, with his sons Adam O’Farrill and Zack O’Farrill.
The festival opens on Tuesday, June 19, with an exhibit at the Huntington Museum of Art featuring the photographs of legendary jazz photographer Herman Leonard. Other events planned throughout the festival include a recreation of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music Concert, a special one-hour discussion on understanding jazz music, a concert of children’s musical favorites set in the jazz style; and a special literary discussion on the photographs, life and writings of legendary Jazz bassist Milt “The Judge” Hinton. In addition, the Marshall University Jazz I Ensemble will perform a concert featuring NEA Jazz Master Jason Marsalis. Also, there will be an exhibition of never-before-seen photographs from the Marsalis family archives and much more.
Weekend events will begin on Friday, June 22, with a performance from the Marshall University Jazz-MU- Tazz Summer Camp participants; the first two performance rounds of the Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition finals; followed by the headline act, the Marsalis Family Quintet. Saturday, June 23, brings a street fair with arts, crafts and other activities for children, along with food and beverage stands and pop-up mini jazz concerts. Saturday’s events will also feature Arturo O’Farrill with his family quartet in a Latin Jazz concert, as well as the final two performance rounds of the Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition. The final evening of the inaugural festival will conclude with the awards ceremony announcing the first, second, and third-place winners of the competition, along with other special awards and a final headline performance by the Jon Batiste Trio.
“I believe this to be a groundbreaking event for music as well as the state of West Virginia.” Ellis Marsalis said. “The city of Huntington’s residents deserve to have a rich cultural experience based in their own community, which they can share with the Tri-State area. Now, for the first time, they can celebrate America’s music and the cultural diversity it represents in the Mountain State.”
“Marshall University has been important to the state of West Virginia and seminal to the city of Huntington. Their dedication to the people in the community and to Jazz music makes them our ideal partner for the Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition and Huntington International Jazz Festival,” said Jerald Miller, managing director of the Nu Jazz Agency. “The Tri-State area is such a tremendous resource to the state and to our entire country, that the idea of launching the first international jazz event of this kind is a dream come true for all of us. I believe that in the years to come, this event will help to build a stronger community and broader appreciation for jazz music, the performing arts, and a host of other art forms in this area.”
Marshall was selected as an ideal place for the jazz competition because of its commitment to jazz education. Under the direction of Dr. Martin Saunders, Marshall University’s jazz studies program offers 13 jazz courses and degrees at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. They are housed in the Jomie Jazz Center, a 12,700-square-foot facility with classrooms, practice rooms, media facilities, a recording studio, a rehearsal hall and performance spaces dedicated to the study of jazz. Courses focus on performance, arranging, history, music technology and production. Marshall has hosted guest artists including 26-time Downbeat Critic’s and Reader’s Poll award-winner Steve Turre; Ashlin Parker; world-renowned jazz percussionist Jeff Hamilton; and Ellis Marsalis, giving students chances to engage and interact with masters of the music.
Marshall is hosting the jazz competition and festival in partnership with the Nu Jazz Agency, an international jazz music management, marketing, promotions, booking, distribution and arts consulting company. For more information on the Ellis Marsalis International Jazz Piano Competition, visit: www.jazzpianocompetition.org or contact Saunders at m.saunders@marshall.edu.