Nashville Jazz Orchestra in residence at Blair School of Music

Performances, rehearsals at Blair part of educational outreach

In the fall of 2005, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra agreed to establish a residency at the Blair School of Music. The sixteen-member orchestra, comprised of some of the most accomplished jazz musicians in the business, performs in Blair's venues approximately four times per year. These concerts are open to the public, and feature both
members of the NJO and special guest artists.

As part of the residency, the NJO rehearses at Blair, using the rehearsal time to provide valuable practice and "master rehearsal" learning experience for jazz music students at the school. Musicians in the orchestra also arrange for one-on-one and group master classes for interested students. Plans are now in the works for arranging for
the teaching opportunities with the orchestra.

"The Nashville Jazz Orchestra's residency at the Blair School brings together performance, creativity, education and community outreach in the best ways," said Mark Wait, dean of the Blair School of Music. "We are proud of this partnership, which will benefit our students and all the citizens of our community"

Jim Williamson, director of the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, says that the residency helps NJO fulfill its mission "to preserve, advance and promote big band jazz appreciation to our children and to our communities through live performance, workshops and quality recordings."

To celebrate this new residency and kick off the performance year, 2005/2006, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra performed in a benefit concert as part of the VU "Music on the Mountain" Series on Sunday October 2 at Dyer Observatory. Popular vocalist Annie Sellick was the featured singer for this concert. This was a month after Hurricane Katrina and NJO and Blair School invited the audience to make donations of any
amount to the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund at the concert. This fund was established by New Orleans' Preservation Hall to provide assistance to musicians who are victims of the disaster. Their website is at www.preservationhall.com

The NJO also performed a sold-out Christmas concert at Blair, featuring Annie Sellick and the Blair student big band in mid-December. Since then, Blair concerts and master classes have featured such renowned guest artists as saxophonists Kirk Whalum and David "Fathead" Newman, pianist Donald Brown, vocalist Raul Malo, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and Cuban percussionists Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Richie Flores, and Jesus Diaz.