Collin Jazz Fest coming to McKinney

by PegNews wire

The 16th annual Collin Jazz Fest will take place Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 at the Spring Creek Campus of Collin County Community College. Since its humble beginnings the Collin Jazz Fest has come to be known around the state and country as one of the premier educational events for jazz music.

Friday night is the opening concert in the John Anthony Theatre at 8 p.m. It features guest artists Kim Richmond (saxophone) and Clay Jenkins (trumpet). Both of these amazing modern players come out of the Stan Kenton Orchestra tradition and in addition to numerous critically acclaimed recordings, both have played with many great jazz performers including Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, the Clayton/Hamilton Orchestra, Lyle Mays, Dr. John and many many others. Tickets will be available at the door for $8.

During the day on Saturday there will be over 600 public school students with almost 30 bands performing throughout the day. The event is open to the public and bands will be performing in the John Anthony Theatre, the Black Box Theatre and the Conference Center. Bands will perform on a rotating basis, starting with the first group at 8:45 a.m.

Saturday night is the closing night Awards Concert, which will feature CCCD's newly formed Latin Jazz Ensemble and the Collin Jazz Lab Band. Tickets are $8 at the door, but will be available on a stand-by basis only as students participating from the day have bought out much of the concert.

Source: Collin County Community College