The SMF Jazz Academy, which is part of the Savannah Music Festival’s year-round local music education initiatives, will host a special Community Family Jam, featuring live performances of classic jazz and blues songs by legendary composers including John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams and Charlie Parker. This event is free and open to the public.
Emceed by current SMF Jazz Academy students, the family-friendly event will feature performances by more than 100 local students, including new and returning SMF Jazz Academy musicians, the Savannah Arts Academy’s talented Skyelite Jazz Band, the high-energy Windsor Forest High School Marching Band and the Deep Center’s acclaimed Slam Team of spoken word artists.
The 2023 Savannah Music Festival Community Family Jam performance schedule is as follows:
● 12 p.m. - Savannah Arts Skyelite Jazz Band
● 12:30 p.m. - SMF Jazz Academy
● 1 p.m. - Windsor Forest Marching Band
● 1:30 p.m. - SMF Jazz Academy
● 3:15 p.m. - Deep Slam Poets
● 3:30 p.m. - Community Blues Jam Session
Members of the public are invited to join the Community Blues Jam Session. In addition, a wide variety of food trucks, family-friendly activities and local vendors will be set up around Daffin Park to enjoy throughout the afternoon. Nonprofit community organizations — including Loop It Up Savannah, The Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire, Front Porch Improv and Migrant Equity Southeast — will also be in attendance, offering activities and helpful resources.
SMF Jazz Academy is a free after-school jazz program organized by the Savannah Music Festival that aims to create an inclusive jazz community in Savannah. The program is free to all Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) students in grades 5 through 12 and is open to all music levels.
When:
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023
Noon - 4 p.m. (Open Jam Session at 3:30 p.m.)
Where:
Daffin Park
Victory Drive and Waters Avenue
Savannah, Georgia
About SMF Jazz Academy:
The SMF Jazz Academy, an after-school jazz program organized by the Savannah Music Festival, is free to all Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) students in grades 5-12 who qualify for free and reduced lunch, attend Juliette Gordon Low Elementary School or Shuman Elementary School or are returning SMF Jazz Academy students. The program is open to all music levels. SMF Jazz Academy students attend weekly ensemble rehearsals and receive one private music lesson per week. Participants enjoy live local performances and have the opportunity to attend master classes and seminars with accomplished regional and national jazz artists. For more information, visit savannahmusicfestival.org/education-programs/jazz-academy.
About Savannah Music Festival:
A leading nonprofit performing arts organization, Savannah Music Festival (SMF) is dedicated to presenting world-class celebrations of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth and unite artists and audiences in Savannah. In addition to year-round music education and broadcast initiatives, SMF has produced one of the most distinctive multi-genre music festivals in the world for more than three decades. Hailed by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution as “one of the gleaming musical treasures of the Southeast'' and by the Toronto Star as “one of North America’s most distinctive musical events,” the Savannah Music Festival has featured more than 2,000 artists over the past three decades. The 2024 Savannah Music Festival will take place March 28 through April 13, and the lineup will be announced on November 16, 2023. For more information, visit savannahmusicfestival.org.
