History

Conceived of in the waning months of 2016, the then unnamed jazz festival at Bainbridge High School was meant to fill a hole seen in the regional jazz education scene. A festival that focused on developing the area's rhythm sections and soloists. The hope was to inspire more schools to start combo programs, and to ignite further interest in jazz studies and deeper commitments to life long jazz performance. It's easier for graduates to start a combo later in life than it is a big band, and great combo players in school make for even better big band players. Put simply, the mission was to improve school jazz programs through focus on the often less-rehearsed components of the big band.

After some initial inquiries, Jim Stevens with Ted Brown Music offered to collaborate on the project. He has been instrumental in helping bring in our festival guest artists, as well as helping to support our festival recording logistics.