MTSU To Participate In Murfreesboro's JazzFest May 1st

Fresh off their first live performance of the year and celebrating the release of a new CD, MTSU's top student jazz group will be a part of Murfreesboro's annual JazzFest, set downtown on Saturday, May 1.

The MTSU Jazz Ensemble I will perform at 3 p.m. May 1 on the stage near the historic Rutherford County Courthouse as part of the free daylong event on the city's Public Square, which is sponsored by Main Street Murfreesboro.

MTSU's Jazz Ensemble I is the School of Music program's top performing student group. The experienced student musicians focus on cutting-edge works and big-band repertoire alongside new compositions and arrangements of their own.

Their JazzFest appearance may also reunite them with some of the same local middle and high school musicians who participated in MTSU's Illinois Jacquet Jazz Festival on April 10.

That daylong annual event, held online for the first time this year from MTSU's Wright Music Building, gave the younger musicians an individual focus on the jazz style and the art of jazz improvisation. They also joined MTSU jazz students in concerts and workshops led by faculty members and guests.

The MTSU festival, conducted with support from the Tennessee Arts Council, culminated with the Jazz Ensemble I's live performance of a few of the 10 songs included on their new CD, "The Middle Way." The collection features jazz styles ranging from the blues to big band to contemporary jazz with both instrumental and vocal performances.

One of the 10 cuts on "The Middle Way," recorded in 2019 and 2020 through a partnership with the MTSU jazz program and the Department of Recording Industry, is available at http://youtu.be/BY3GvRlf_48.

Murfreesboro's downtown JazzFest also has a young-musician focus this year, featuring a morning workshop for youngsters from preschool to elementary school and an afternoon of performances by local private and high school bands before the MTSU ensemble appearance.

The complete JazzFest schedule is available at https://mainstreetmurfreesboro.org/jazzfest.