The FREE 2023 Greenville Jazz Fest will feature The Grammy Award-Winning Rebirth Brass Band and Jonathan Scales Fourchestra. Additional performances from The Tish Oney Jazz Orchestra featuring Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band, Iliana Rose Cuban Jazz Band and The Wheel All Stars.

The 2023 Greenville Jazz Fest will bring jazz to Main Street and into local schools. The event is excited to partner with Greenville County Schools (GCS) to bring jazz education from the schools to the 2023 festival with a special performance from the All County Jazz Ensemble. Comprised of 20 students from 5 different GCS High Schools and the Fine Arts Center, the ensemble will perform a variety of styles in the big band genre, including swing, funk, samba, bossa-nova, and vocal jazz. The festival will also feature local crowd favorite Fine Arts Center Jazz All Stars.

The Wheel Sessions

"The Wheel Sessions” is a jazz performance music series hosted in Greenville South Carolina. Now in its sixth year of presenting concerts, 98 sessions to date, The Wheel Sessions has established itself as the premier location for hearing great jazz in the Upstate. Series musicians regularly represent a wide radius of the Southeast, including performers from Charlotte, Asheville, Atlanta, and Charleston. Semi-annual special event concerts feature international artists including Jon Faddis, Ignacio Berroa, and James Carter, Jorge Garcia, Marc Black, and Etienne Charles. Check out the website for more info: https://www.wheelsessions.com/

All County Jazz Ensemble

Students representing 5 Greenville County High Schools and the SC Fine Arts Center have been invited to participate in the 20-piece All County Jazz Ensemble. The program will feature music encompassing a variety of styles in the big band genre, including swing, funk, samba, bossa-nova, and vocal jazz. Composers include Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Eddie Harris, and more. Through rehearsals leading up to the festival performance, students will take a deep dive into educational components including jazz music history, jazz music theory, improvisation techniques, and ensemble cohesiveness including balance, blend, and intonation responsibilities within the jazz ensemble. Special guest musicians include Dr. Matt White (University of South Carolina Jazz Studies), Dr. Jason DeCristifaro (Warren Wilson College Jazz Studies), and Steve Watson (Fine Arts Center Jazz Studies Instructor).

Greenville Jazz Collective

Featuring Grammy-nominated, renowned musicians and local community leaders, the Greenville Jazz Collective's mission is to create appreciation and awareness of jazz in Greenville through performance and education. For over 20 years, the small non-profit has connected with many of the dedicated professional musicians, arts organizations, and music educators in Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina to reach tens of thousands of people with award-winner jazz programs. Such programs include the JazzEd program and Summer Jazz Camps that introduce area grade school students to jazz in the way of live performances and educational classes free of charge.

Youth Jazz Ensemble is another education-based program hosted by the Collective's Shannon Hoover (GJC Music Director, Jazz Educator, Bassist) and Dr. Tish Oney (Jazz Educator, Vocalist, Author), along with roster of guest clinicians including Dr. Matt Olson, Keith Davis, Patrick Lopez, Jorge Garcia, Kevin Korschgen, Iliana Rose, and more. Youth Jazz Ensemble students receive state-of-the-art jazz education that helps prepare them to attend leading college, university, and conservatory music programs.

The Collective's award-winning 17 piece Big Band released a critically acclaimed album of original music in 2018 and continues to play live performances including tribute shows to music greats including Charles Mingus, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Martino, Aretha Franklin, & Curtis Mayfield. For more info, visit https://www.greenvillejazzcollective.com.

JAZZ AROUND TOWN

The Greenville Jazz Fest is proud to partner with local music venues to bring jazz performances into the community all weekend long. Guests can enjoy special performances at local venues throughout downtown.