Student Services Building Remodel Student Services are temporarily located in alternate locations.
Student Services Building Remodel Student Services are temporarily located in alternate locations.
For the 30th festival, we are proud to welcome three-time Grammy-nominated trombonist Alan Ferber to Fresno City College. Alan will present two masterclasses on Thursday, March 19 for the festival participants and the community and then perform with the Fresno City College Jazz Ensemble before his 7:30 concert with his nonet.
He has been called "one of the jazz world's premier composers and arrangers for larger groups" by All About Jazz NY. Jazz Times magazine describes Ferber's compositions as "inspired and meticulous" and the L.A. Weekly deems him "one of the premier modern jazz arrangers of our time." For the last seven years, he has been recognized as one of the leading trombonists of his generation in Down Beat magazine's International Critics' Poll and Readers' Poll. Since 2011, he has been an Adjunct Professor of jazz studies at New York University's Steinhardt School.
Founded by Mike Dana in 1991, the City Jazz Festival has grown to an event hosting dozens of students jazz groups from throughout California, performing in our Theatre here at Fresno City College. The emphasis has always been on education. A panel of jazz educators from around the country critiques the students' performances, and participants attend a variety of workshops presented by some of the greatest professional jazz performers in the country. City Jazz has fostered jazz education by awarding summer music camp scholarships to support outstanding student performers to the Berklee College of Music, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Milestones Summer Music Camp, and the Lafayette Jazz Camp, to name a few. The event culminates with a performance by the featured guest artist, this year Alan Ferber, accompanied by the FCC Jazz Ensemble. Over 1000 student jazz groups have participated, and over $100,000 in scholarships have been awarded during the Festival's 30 years here at FCC.
The festival featured guest artists have included a who's who of jazz and have included countless GRAMMY nominated wind players including saxophonists as Eric Marienthal, Bob Mintzer, Ernie Watts, Tom Scott, Tim Ries, and Bob Sheppard, trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Bobby Shew, Ingrid Jensen, and Gilbert Castellanos, and trombonists Conrad Herwig and Andy Martin. The stage has also shined bright with phenomenal rhythm section legends including guitarists Anthony Wilson and Mark Whitfield, drummers Jeff Hamilton and Steve Houghton, and vocalist Tierney Sutton, Gretchen Parlato, Kevin Mahogany, Kirsten Korb, Sara Gazarek, and Sunny Wilkinson. Notable groups have included Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge, New West Guitar Group, The Josh Nelson Quartet, and the Jeff Hamilton Trio.
The Alan Ferber Nonet
The Fresno City College Jazz Ensemble directed by Paul Lucckesi
Fresno City College Theatre
1101 E. University Ave, Fresno, CA 93741
7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15; $12 Seniors & JazzFresno Members; $10 Students
Tickets available online or at the door starting at 6:30 pm. Doors open at 7:00 pm
Theatre box office 559.442.8221
Fresno City College Theatre
Free Admission
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Over 30 student groups from throughout California perform and receive workshops from some on the finest jazz educators in the country.
