New York jazz legend and Dallas native Cedar Walton will be the star attraction at this year’s TCU Jazz Festival this weekend. Walton was recently named the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for 2010, the nation's highest honor in jazz.

 

 

He performs with his quartet at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 26 in Ed Landreth Auditorium. Tickets are $20 at the door or available in advance by calling 817-257-7640.
All day Saturday (March 27) is devoted to jazz band competition and adjudication with professional jazz musicians from across the country, including Dr. Ron McCurdy, Head of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California and director of the Disneyland All-Star Intercollegiate Band. There will be 28 top high school and middle school jazz ensembles attending.

 

 

This is the 33rd year for the annual Jazz Festival which has a rich history of bringing in the greats in the field to perform alongside the University's own talented jazz ensembles. Saxophonist Mario Cruz, a TCU School of Music alumnus recently relocated to his Fort Worth hometown, will also be part of the weekend event ... helping train aspiring young musicians during the Saturday session and blowing audiences out of their seats at the awards concert that night. He will perform with the TCU Jazz Ensembles at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 27 in Ed Landreth Auditorium. Tickets are $10 at the door.

 

 

The lineup for the weekend:

 

Friday, March 26 – The Cedar Walton Quartet, 7:30 p.m., Ed Landreth Auditorium, $20 admission at the door.

 

Saturday, March 27 - 28 area high school and middle school jazz ensembles, 9 a.m.-
5 p.m., Ed Landreth Auditorium, PepsiCo Recital Hall. Free.

 

Saturday, March 27    - Awards concert with TCU Jazz Ensembles and guest saxophone artist Mario Cruz, 7:30 p.m., Ed Landreth Auditorium, $10 admission at the door.

 

For more information, call 817-257-7640 or visit the Web site at www.music.tcu.edu.