Jazz Fest
Sidebar
February 26-27, 2027
Your invitation:
We would like to take this opportunity to extend a special invitation to you and your jazz ensemble, vocal jazz ensemble, and/or combo to be a part of the University of Louisville Jazz Festival, Friday February 26th, and/or Saturday February 27th, 2027. This festival will be the culmination of a multiple-day celebration of jazz here on the University of Louisville campus. Please let us know which day you would prefer to perform, and we will do our best to try to accommodate your group with our scheduling.
This year's guest artists will be the New Orleans trumpeter, Ashlin Parker, (Friday, Feb 26th) and jazz guitar great, Peter Bernstein. (Saturday, Feb 27th). This year’s adjudicators are Dr. Adam Booker- Appalachian State University, Thomas Taylor- North Carolina Central University, and David Phy- College of Southern Nevada. Each participating ensemble will have a 25-minute performance, and a 20 minute clinic with our festival adjudicators. Ensembles will receive citations for outstanding, excellent, and good performances as well as a video recording of their performance. One to two outstanding soloists will be determined each day by the adjudicators. Outstanding soloists will receive free tuition to attend the UofL Honors Jazz Band Invitational in April 2027. Additionally, the adjudicators will select an outstanding ensemble to open each evening’s performance. Other activities on Friday and Saturday will include clinics and/or performances by our guest artists, UofL jazz faculty and adjudicators.
The UofL Jazz Festival is also an excellent opportunity for students who are interested in attending the University to audition for music scholarships and activity awards and to tour the campus. If you have students who are interested in auditioning, please note that on the enclosed entry form. The University jazz program is a very active program with a renowned faculty. The UofL jazz faculty includes David Clark, Ansyn Banks, Chris Fitzgerald, Gabe Evens, Marlin McKay, Jayson Zorn and Terry O’Mahoney. The UofL jazz program includes big bands, combos, repertory ensembles, courses in jazz theory, improvisation, composition and arranging, jazz history, music technology, and jazz pedagogy. We offer both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz studies.
A limited number of performance slots are available. To assure your spot, please fill out the JazzFest27 Entry Form. The required registration fee ($180 for jazz ensembles; $130 for jazz combos and vocal groups) can be paid via check or with credit card. The registration deadline is January 25, 2027. Registration forms may also be downloaded from our website, jazz.louisville.edu. Your registration will not be completed until the registration fee has been received. Lastly, be on the lookout to hear from us about our upcoming Invitational Honor Jazz Band scheduled for April 2027.
Guest artists:
A versatile jazz trumpeter based in New Orleans, Ashlin Parker is sought after for big band, small ensemble, and solo performances. He has played with various ensembles at jazz festivals and clubs in Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and Wales. Ashlin leads the Trumpet Mafia and plays regularly with ensembles in New Orleans, such as the Ellis Marsalis Quintet, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Bill Summers and Jazalsa. He has played with musicians such as Ellis Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Roland Guerin, Leroy Jones, Derek Douget, Adonis Rose, Dr. John, Karl Denson, Igor Butman, and Nicholas Payton, as well as vocalists Rafael Saadiq, the O’Jays, Anthony Hamilton, PJ Morton, Aretha Franklin, Quiana Lynell, Tiffany Austin, and Dee Dee Bridgewater. Ashlin has played on more than 30 albums with other musicians and has featured solos on albums such as the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s Songs: The Music of Allen Toussaint (2019) and Live at Newport (2017), Tiffany Austin’s Unbroken (2018), Ellis Marsalis’ Ellis Marsalis Quintet plays Ellis Marsalis (2017), and Jason Marsalis’ Heirs of the Crescent City (2016).
In addition to teaching private lessons and leading master classes at many high schools, colleges, and universities throughout the U.S., Ashlin teaches children and teenagers at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music (2015-present), taught applied jazz trumpet lessons at the University of New Orleans (2011-2018, and serves as a Professor of Practice at Tulane University (2018-present).
Honors include sharing in the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s debut album, entitled Book One. Trumpet Mafia won the OffBeat Magazine’s 2017 Best of the Beat Award: Emerging Artist of the Year. Ashlin won the French Quarter Fest, Inc. 2018 Spirit of Satchmo Award for his musical contributions to New Orleans. He holds the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Shenandoah University Conservatory (2005) and the Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans (2009).
Peter Bernstein was born in New York City in 1967. He has been playing and recording since 1990 when he first appeared on recordings with Lou Donaldson and the organ trio of Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart, a group still touring and recording today. That year, Peter was featured on Jim Hall's JVC Jazz Festival concert at Town Hall. Peter played in Lou Donaldson's group for 10 years as well as performing and recording with
Joshua Redman's group 1995-97. Other associations and collaborations include Jimmy Cobb, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David Fathead Newman, Brad Mehldau, Etta Jones, Melvin Rhyne, Diana Krall, Bobby Hutcherson, Lee Konitz, Nicholas Payton, George Coleman and Sonny Rollins. Peter has played on festival, concert, and club stages all over the world and has appeared on over 300 recordings with 14 under his own name. These recordings have featured many of his own compositions as well as a trio recording of Thelonious Monk's music and a live solo recording of standards and jazz classics. Peter's recordings have featured musicians such as Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, Greg Hutchinson, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Stewart, Larry Grenadier, Gerald Clayton, Sullivan Fortner, Peter Washington, Doug Weiss, and Joe Farnsworth, among others. His latest recording on the Smoke Sessions label is "Better Angels", and features Brad Mehldau, Vicente Archer, and Al Foster.
2027 Schedule
Ashlin Parker with the Jazz Faculty and Jazz Ensemble I
Friday, February 26, 2027
Comstock Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m.
Peter Bernstein with the Jazz Faculty and Jazz Ensemble I
Saturday, February 27, 2027
Comstock Recital Hall, 8:00 p.m.