Jazz festival will draw international talent to Cape

Student musicians and artists from around the world will be coming together and taking the stage this weekend at Bedell Performance Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University for the annual Clark Terry Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Festival.

Andre Hayward -- known for his professional jazz trombone playing abilities and for performing with the Duke/Mercer Ellington Orchestra, Illinois Jacquet Big Band, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the San Francisco Jazz Collective -- will be featured this weekend.

Hayward served as trombone professor at New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, New York University and New England Conservatory, according to the River Campus' official website. He also has recorded with singer and band leader Betty Carter for several years, being part of her "Jazz Ahead" program.

Hayward performed alongside many others, including: Joe Williams, Slide Hampton, John Lewis, Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Gerald Wilson, Kirk Whalum and Jimmy Heath.

Performances featured today and tomorrow -- in addition to Hayward's "gospel-tinged approach," according to a Southeast news release -- include Southeast's Studio Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band and nine student soloists. Dr. Joseph Jefferson, Southeast professor of music and director of jazz studies, will lead the Jazz Lab Band and Studio Jazz Ensemble.

More than 600 students from more than 26 jazz ensembles and 15 schools will perform Friday through Saturday evening.

The festival begins at 8 a.m. Friday, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Admission is free Friday, and tickets are $12 for Saturday evening. Additional information can be found online at www.rivercampus.org.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

518 S. Fountain. Cape Girardeau 63703