This will be the 40th anniversary of the festival and it will feature famous guest artists Marcus Roberts and Dayna Stephens, each of whom will perform side-by-side with UNC students, faculty and high school orchestras. The festival will run until Saturday.
Music professor Jim Ketch has directed the event since the first festival in 1977. He said he sees himself as an advocate for jazz at the University and is especially excited to be able to bring such great jazz artists to the UNC campus this year.
“If I can be successful in bringing in guest artists with international fame, then the students are going to get a chance to rub shoulders with people that could be helpful to them after they graduate,” he said.
The students who get to meet and sometimes play with these artists also see the value in bringing big names to the jazz festival.
Atticus Reynolds, a senior music major, said the festival is great because the guest artists stay on campus for a longer time than they do at other times of the year. He said he has kept in touch with past guest artist, Etienne Charles.
“(Charles) texted me one time when I was in New York and invited me to go see D’Angelo with Questlove and all these people in New York and it was amazing to see that,” he said.
One of the students performing with both the jazz combos and the big band is first-year music and geology major, Ben Thyer. He said the performers have contributed a copious amount of hours since the semester began, rehearsing three times a week and practicing through the campus closure caused by the water pipe break earlier this month.
“When the water crisis happened, most of us showed up and we had a rehearsal even though it started after — like two hours after that message went out and Ketch didn’t send anything, we just knew,” he said.