Calvin Jones BIG BAND Jazz Festival is a huge success

UDC Jazz Ensemble alumni Tracey Cutler, Bruce Williams and Jordon Dixon paying tribute to Dr. Leroy Barton Jr. Photo credit: Kenneth Dickerson

The BIG BAND returned to the UDC Theatre of the Arts at the Van Ness Campus on Monday, April 24. The powerhouse jazz ensembles from UDC (dir. Allyn Johnson), Howard University (dir. Fred Irby III), and the University of Maryland (dir. Tim Powell) finished Jazz Appreciation Month. The concert honored the late musician and educator Dr. Leroy Barton Jr. (Scholarship Benefit Series).

Dedicated jazz lovers packed the house for, as jazz broadcaster Rusty Hassan remarked, “…it [sic] was a glorious event for music.” Jazz critic Michael West captured the evening with “the perennial joy of the Calvin Jones BIG BAND Festival.”

The 2023 festival celebrated thirty-four years of world-class jazz. Produced by the UDC’s Jazz Studies Program and the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, area audiences have overwhelmingly supported the festival since 1987.