The Bill Evans Jazz Festival was recently held at the Columbia Theatre in downtown Hammond. The festival featured guest artist Laura Dreyer and performances from various ensembles, including the University Jazz Ensemble and high school bands. 

The festival, has been a staple in the Hammond community for over 20 years. It is named after Evans, an SLU alumni and seven-time Grammy award winner. In Evans’ name, local music enthusiasts were able to come together and celebrate jazz artists.

The annual festival, initiated in 2002 by the former head of the Fine and Performing Arts Department Dr. David Evenson, was originally established to honor Evans. Over the years, it has evolved into an education-centric and performance-forward event, providing a unique learning opportunity for students and jazz enthusiasts alike. 

Michael Brothers, director of jazz and percussion studies, passionately works for months to coordinate the festival every single year.

It is not a competitive festival and each school that comes to participate can either come for comments only from the judicators or they can have the opportunity to have a score sheet filled out so the band’s directors can get feedback. The three-person panel of judicators includes a rhythm section person, a brass player, and a saxophone player.

“It takes me a full year to put this together. Once finals are done, I start prepping for the following year,” said Brothers. “My favorite part of it is not only putting it together but bringing high-quality guest artists such as Dreyer to work with the university and high school students.” 

Free and paid events were available from April 15-20, including one on Monday when SLU lecturer Dr. John Madere performed with the University Jazz Lab Band and Jazz Combo to kick off the festival. The SLU alumni Jazz Ensemble followed on Wednesday with admission required. 

The Louisiana Association for Jazz Education State Jazz Festival took place in conjunction with the Bill Evans event. High school bands performed for jazz professionals and worked with them one-on-one after their performance.

On Friday evening, the SLU Jazz Faculty had an admission-required performance with Dreyer, and on Saturday, she and Brothers performed new music with the University Jazz Ensemble in a free event to close out the last night of the Bill Evans Jazz Festival. 

For more information regarding the Bill Evans Jazz Festival, visit the Columbia Theatre’s website or call (985)-549-ARTS(2787).