NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The annual Bryce Luty Jazz Festival is coming to HutchCC this week.
"We have Jeff Coffin coming in as our guest artist," said Greg Weis, the Jazz professor at the college. "He is the saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band. If you're a jazz fan, you may also be familiar with him from Bella Fleck and the Flecktones. He's a three-time Grammy Award winner. Twenty-eight high school and middle school bands will get the chance to perform some music for him and our two other guest clinicians. Then they'll have a 20-minute clinic period, where they'll get to work one on one with those clinicians, working on things like improvisation, playing as an ensemble, dynamics, articulation and style."
Also on Thursday, Jeff Coffin will be offering a free masterclass that is open to the public. It will begin at 12 noon in the BJ Warner Recital Hall of Stringer Fine Arts Center.
"This is the biggest festival that we've had so far," Weis said. "We're going to be going 8 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. both days."
Now in its 49th year, the festival was named for long-time HutchCC jazz instructor Bryce Luty following his passing in 2014. The concert will include performances by the HutchCC Concert Jazz Band, under the direction of Greg Weis, and the Bryce Luty Jazz Festival All Star Band.
"We train our young jazz musicians, not only to learn their basic techniques that all musicians do, like scales and chords and all that stuff," Weis said. "Also, kind of learning music as a language, so you're having to create and converse on your own."
Tickets for the Friday, Feb. 2 7 p.m. concert are just $10.00 for adults, $8.00 for senior citizens, $5.00 for high school students and children, with Hutchinson Community College students/faculty/staff admitted free with a valid college ID. Tickets are available by calling the Fine Arts ticket office at 620-665-3503. Advance purchase of tickets is recommended.
CLICK HERE to download the Hutch Post mobile app.
CLICK HERE to sign up for the daily Hutch Post email news update.