Bemidji State University's JazzFest begins Feb. 5

Feb. 2, 2015 — Bemidji State University will welcome Steve Smith, the former drummer for the band Journey, and Graham Breedlove, trumpeter with the Army Blues, as lead clinicians for JazzFest 2015.

The BSU JazzFest is a non-competitive, educationally-based festival in which bands perform for about 20 minutes and receive constructive suggestions in a 25-minute session with a pair of camp clinicians. Recent guest clinicians have included Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Coffin, Trent Austin and Steve Turre, among many others. The three-day festival is one of the largest in the state of Minnesota with about 20 bands attending each year from as far away as Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Grand Forks, N.D., and southern Minnesota.

Guest artists host their own clinics, and sponsors will have instrument clinics and demo instruments available for participating students.

BSU will have opportunities available for students to audition for entry into the music program for fall of 2015. Participants in the festival also will have opportunities to meet with faculty and staff and tour BSU’s music facilities, including its state-of-the-art tech lab and suite.

Steve Smith

Steve Smith’s professional career began in full in 1974, at 19 years old, with his tenure in the Lin Biviano Big Band. In 1978, Smith was asked to join the famous rock band Journey. While drumming with Journey, Smith began leading his own fusion band, Steve Smith and Vital Information. Smith is also the bandleader of Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy, a group carrying on the tradition of many of the great drummer-led jazz bands; communicating with music lovers of all generations, striving for excellence and playing non-compromising, burning, straight-ahead jazz. In 2001, Modern Drummer magazine named Smith one of the top 25 drummers of all time; in 2002 he was voted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame; and the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Drum! magazine readers poll voted Smith #1 Jazz Drummer.

Graham Breedlove

Since taking up the trumpet at age 12 in his hometown of Lafayette, La., Graham Breedlove has performed on four continents in more than 20 countries. Currently, Breedlove is a trumpet soloist with the Army Blues jazz ensemble, part of The United States Army Band, “Pershing’s Own” in Washington, D.C. He has appeared as a soloist, composer/arranger or lead player on five CDs with the Army Blues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in music and performer’s certificate from Indiana University. Greedlove has performed with headliners representing more than 100 Grammy nominations, including The Saturday Night Live Band, Ray Charles, Wynton Marsalis, Ramsey Lewis, Darius Rucker and Doc Severinsen.

Other clinicians include local pianist Ryan Frane and University of Minnesota-Duluth bassist Adam Booker.

Alumni Band

The JazzFest will bring more than 20 alumni musicians from all over the country back to campus. The group will hold a concert Friday night, Feb. 6. at 9 p.m. at the Elks Club of Bemidji. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.

Concert schedule

All of the festival’s daytime events are free and open to the public. The evening concerts are ticketed; tickets will be sold at the door for $10. Students can purchase tickets for $5, and BSU and Northwest Technical College students are admitted free with a valid student ID. Both concerts are expected to sell out; persons interested in attending either of the evening performances are encouraged to purchase advance tickets at the BSU Department of Music.

Friday, Feb. 6

Smith, Breedlove, Frane, and Booker will be doing a combo concert on on Friday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of BSU’s Bangsberg Fine Arts Complex.

Saturday, Feb. 7

Bemidji State’s Blue Ice will perform with Steve Smith and Graham Breelove beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Bangsberg Main Theatre.