The 54th annual Elmhurst University Jazz Festival will be held entirely online, Friday February 26 through Sunday February 28, 2021.
Featured Artists
Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project presents Birth of the Cool
Saturday, February 27 2021, 7:30 PM
Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts
Friday, February 26 2021, 7:30 PM
Kurt Elling with the Elmhurst University Jazz Band
Sunday, February 28 2021, 4:30 PM
Dennis Mackrel, guest adjudicator
Saturday & Sunday afternoons, February 26 & 27
Donny McCaslin, guest adjudicator
Saturday & Sunday afternoons, February 26 & 27
Terell Stafford, guest adjudicator
Saturday & Sunday afternoons, February 26 & 27
About the Festival
The 54th edition of the Festival will be remembered not only for another great year of music, but also as a year of some changes. First, you may notice that the event is now known as the Elmhurst University Jazz Festival as a result of our institution’s name change. Another significant difference is the presentation format: the 2021 Festival will be a virtual event, held entirely online. While we will not be able to gather in Hammerschmidt Chapel, we are confident that you will find the student and professional performances just as inspiring as when seated in the luxurious Chapel pews.
The current Elmhurst University Jazz Festival rose from the ashes of the now-defunct American College Jazz Festival. The original Festival, established in 1968, was comprised of eight regional sites throughout the United States. Elmhurst College hosted the Midwest event. Each regional festival produced a winning band, combo, and vocalist, who then performed at a national festival on Memorial Day weekend. American Airlines, Budweiser, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sponsored the annual extravaganza.
The national festival expired in 1973, but Elmhurst College continued its festival with a new approach. Instead of a winner-take-all format, the emphasis was shifted from competition to education. Guest artists offer constructive critiques of each performing group, conduct clinics, and demonstrate their skill in concert. The artists also grant awards to outstanding ensembles, individual musicians, and student composers and arrangers.
The Festival has hosted some of the most iconic names in jazz. Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley, Lee Konitz, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, the Dave Holland Quintet, Nicholas Payton, Diana Krall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, the Bill Holman Band, the Phil Woods Quintet, the Count Basie Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson, Patti Austin, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, the Joe Lovano Quartet, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project and the Dave Douglas Quintet all have graced our stage.
Since 1968, there have been countless memorable moments. Many of them have been the performances by the legendary artists who make the journey to our stage each year. But the student musicians who perform on the afternoon and evening sessions have created a great number of those moments of magic. They deliver heartfelt performances and give the audiences all they have and more. Many have gone on to careers in music and have made their mark in the art form. Professionals who performed here as students include Delfeayo Marsalis, Rich Perry, Cecil Bridgewater, John Harmon, John Fedchock, Peter Erskine, Tim Hagans and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
The Festival is above all else a forum for jazz education. It is a gathering where some of the world’s most acclaimed artists come together with the next generation of musicians to not only perform the music, but also to study it. The Festival is a place where students have access to some of the best musicians in the business and can ask them directly about their artistry.
In 2017 the Festival celebrated its 50th Anniversary, and we are able to look back on a history that clearly marks its status as an institution. While the 54th edition will be presented in a virtual format, it promises to keep that tradition alive. It is a special happening: a rare blend of educational enrichment and exciting entertainment. Welcome to our celebration of America’s sublime art form.