Performances for the 14^th year of the event will be streamed from Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts in Winter Park (where �鶹ӳ����ý musicians will be shown) and from Smalls Jazz Club in New York (where alumni and some guest musicians will play).

“Smalls presents the highest level of jazz, and is an internationally recognized jazz club,” says Jeff Rupert, a Pegasus Professor, director of �鶹ӳ����ý’s jazz studies, and a member of the Jazz Professors also on the festival lineup. “Numerous important clubs are closing their doors permanently as a result of COVID, and yet Smalls is working to maintain a presence.

“Since we can’t present live jazz at �鶹ӳ����ý this term, the partnership with Smalls was logical. We can present the highest level of art without flying in guests and endangering them or our students.”

Rupert said the artists also will give master classes to jazz �鶹ӳ����ý students.

Headlining the New York portions of the festival with performances each day is the Joe Farnsworth Trio, which includes Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Barron on piano.

Students, alumni and other professionals will perform during the weekend event in addition to the Jazz Professors, who will close out the festival on the final night. The band is made up of �鶹ӳ����ý faculty members: Rupert on saxophone, Per Danielson on piano, Richard Drexler on bass, Bobby Koelble on guitar, Dan Miller on Trumpet, and Marty Morell on drums.

The festival’s schedule is a pay-what-you-can event, with a suggestion of $10. An online link to the performances will be provided in an email confirmation after registering.

Really, that’s the name of the album – Good News! – and it has been in the top 50 on the three major jazz charts since it was released in July, even spending some time at No. 1 on the Roots Music Report’s chart. The band’s sixth album under Professor Jeff Rupert is charting higher than recordings by Van Morrison, Mike LeDonne and other notables.

The success of the band, made up of students in the university’s jazz studies program, is simple. “We work at promoting good music and artistic endeavors,” says Rupert, a tenor saxophonist.

Selections on the album include the works of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Antonio Carlos Jobim and others. The Good News! title comes from one of the songs on the album, which was composed by one of Rupert’s former teachers 30 years ago, Bob Mintzer.

This is the band’s first recording collaboration with the �鶹ӳ����ý Studio Orchestra, which joins on several songs. Other collaborations on the album are with The Jazz Professors (Rupert, Per Danielsson, Richard��Drexler, Bobby Koelble and Marty Morell), and guest vocalist Jeff “T-Bone” Gerard.

Rupert, director of �鶹ӳ����ý’s jazz studies, also is conductor of the Florida Symphony Youth Jazz Orchestra and founder of Flying Horse Records.

All sales from the album benefit the jazz studies program. CDs are available from and CDBaby, digital downloads are available at retailers, and the album is available on streaming platforms.

The band’s previous album, The Bat Swings! (2018), hit the top three national jazz airplay charts, reaching No. 1 on both the Roots Music Report and the North American College and Community Radio chart, as well as No. 29 on JazzWeek.

The band also will have an album of Ray Charles songs coming out in January. Rupert has spent some time in New York producing the vocal component of the album.

“Now we have the top writers and musicians collaborating with the band,” Rupert says. “It’s a great time at �鶹ӳ����ý.”

Members of the ICA will hold meetings and presentations during the conference, but several evening concerts – some of which will be by �鶹ӳ����ý musicians – are open to the public.

“Over 1,400 clarinet enthusiasts will be coming to Orlando,” said Keith Koons, professor of clarinet at �鶹ӳ����ý and artistic director of the conference at the DoubleTree��Hotel, 5780 Major Blvd. “We are pleased that the public will have access to conference performances with many impressive international artists.”

The �鶹ӳ����ý Percussion Ensemble will perform at 4:30 p.m. July 28, and the �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Professors combo will perform at 8:30 p.m. July 29 with two nationally known jazz clarinetists, Ken Peplowski and Allan Vaché. Vaché lives in the Orlando area.

Tickets for these and several other concerts listed at are available at the door. General admission tickets are $15.

The ICA also will present a free outreach concert at 3 p.m. July 29 at Dr. Phillips High School. Musicians from the conference will repeat their performances, and there will be two pieces dedicated to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.

The concert, hosted by the �鶹ӳ����ý School of Performing Arts, will be a medley of songs decided right before the show. This technique, known as “calling tune,” is common among jazz musicians, said �鶹ӳ����ý trumpet professor John Almeida. A musical virtuoso, Morrison is adept with the piano, trumpet, saxophone, double bass and all the brass instruments.

“We don’t know how many instruments Mr. Morrison will bring to the concert. He has a steamer trunk full of instruments and you can never tell which ones he’s going to bring out,” Almeida said.

The �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Professors are are Jeff Rupert, Michael Wilkinson, Per Danielsson, Richard Drexler, Bobby Koelble and Marty Morell. All��are music faculty members at the university and active performers in the jazz industry. In addition to their solo works, together as a group they create albums that consistently reach the top 50 in the jazz charts. Most recently, their album Do That Again reached No. 6 in JazzWeek.

Tickets may be purchased in advance online or from the �鶹ӳ����ý School of Performing Arts Box Office and are $20 for general admission, $10 with a student ID, and free for students with �鶹ӳ����ý IDs. Doors will open at 8 p.m.

For more information about the .

Jeff Rupert, director of the Jazz Studies program at �鶹ӳ����ý, believes it is critical for students to be working side-by-side with active professional musicians.

“We are bringing in guest artists who have a strong presence in the professional world, so our students can communicate and interact with them,” said Rupert. “This fall we are collaborating on repertory works with in-demand artists Harry Allen and Chuck Redd, and learning and performing new works for jazz groups, like our suite for Miles Davis and James Brown at the Florida Music Educators convention in Tampa this January.”

The fall jazz season kicked off Sept. 24 with a performance and master class by jazz vibraphonist Chuck Redd. Rupert said Redd was impressed with �鶹ӳ����ý’s students.

“Chuck Redd told me that this has got to be one of the top jazz programs in the country, and certainly the best small jazz program,” Rupert said. “Other jazz programs have several hundred students. We have forty. This is a big deal.”

Alex Lewis, a trumpet player in his senior year, was conversely enthralled with Redd. “His improvisation is beautiful. It was not only how he was playing, but how he was listening and reacting musically to whatever someone else did. That allowed the music to grow and develop.”

Lewis has been a member of the Flying Horse Big Band since his first semester at �鶹ӳ����ý, in the fall of 2012. The Big Band is the premier student jazz ensemble on campus and students audition for a seat every semester. “This band has been the defining point of my university career. It is the highest thing I could have hoped for.”

The Flying Horse Big Band has a free concert in Winter Park at the Winter Park Autumn Art festival on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m.

The group will also be performing with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen on Friday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. in the Communications Building Auditorium on the �鶹ӳ����ý campus. Tickets for “Harry Allen plays Harry Allen with the Flying Horse Big Band” cost $10 and can be purchased in advance.

Allen has more than 30 recordings to his name and frequently tours the U.S., Europe, and Asia. His many accolades include the New York Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Combo Performance and Gold Disk Awards for three of his CDs. He has performed and recorded with Rosemary Clooney, John Pizzarelli, Tony Bennett, James Taylor and Ray Brown, among many others.

Ryan Wasner, a junior jazz studies major focusing on jazz guitar, says that performing with guest artists such as Redd and Allen gives the students insight into the world of jazz. This semester, he is particularly excited to be on the stage with Allen.

“We are playing music that [Allen] wrote, specifically for this concert,” he said. “These guys have a lot of experience and insight. They’ve experienced what we are trying to do. Most of the time, people in jazz are wanting to give back. It’s a social art; they want to be mentors to a younger generation.”

The Flying Horse Big Band will give its final performance of the fall semester on Dec. 4 in the Nicholson School of Communication auditorium. In addition to the Flying Horse Big Band performances, jazz enthusiasts can attend free performances by student jazz combos and ensembles in the �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall at 8 p.m. Oct. 20 and 27, and Nov. 10, 17 and 24.

In addition, two of the university’s jazz ensembles, the Jazz Professors and The Flying Horse Big Band, are producing albums for �鶹ӳ����ý’s record label, Flying Horse Records. The record label has produced six albums and another is in the works. The most recent release by the Jazz Professors, En Plein Air, reached No. 29 on JazzWeek’s charts this summer and the Big Band’s recent release,��“Into the Mystic” was listed as “Chartbound” by JazzWeek this July.

Performances at a glance:

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Sunday, October 11, 2015; 1:00 pm

The �鶹ӳ����ý Flying Horse Big Band will perform at the band shell in Central Park, Winter Park, as part of the Winter Park Art Festival.

��Dz���:��Free and open to the public

Location: Central Park, Winter Park Band Shell

407-823-1500

��

Harry Allen Plays Harry Allen, with �鶹ӳ����ý’s Flying Horse Big Band

Flying Horse Big Band

Special Guest Harry Allen, tenor saxophone

Friday, October 16, 2015; 8:00 pm

��Dz���:��$10, $5 non-�鶹ӳ����ý students, free with �鶹ӳ����ý ID
Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert I

Tuesday, October 20, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý Student Jazz Combos

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Group Concert Series: Concert II

Tuesday, October 27, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý Student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location: �鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Ensemble II Concert

Tuesday, November 10, 2015; 8:00 pm

The �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Ensemble II presents a concert under the direction of Michael Wilkinson.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert III

Tuesday, November 17, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Jazz Chamber Groups Concert Series: Concert IV

Tuesday, November 24, 2015; 8:00 pm

Featuring performances by �鶹ӳ����ý student Jazz Combos.

Cost: Free and open to the public

Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

Flying Horse Big Band Concert

Friday, December 4, 2015; 8:00 pm

��Dz���:��$10, $5 non-�鶹ӳ����ý students, free with �鶹ӳ����ý ID
Location:���鶹ӳ����ý Communications Bldg., Auditorium (101)

4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816

407-823-1500

��

The Jazz Professors’ new album, Do That Again,��has climbed to No. 13 on the JazzWeek album chart in its third week of release. Meanwhile, The Blues is Alright, a CD of performances by �鶹ӳ����ý students, is keeping famous company among the “Most Added” albums.

Do That Again is the second album from The Jazz Professors, a group of six �鶹ӳ����ý faculty members who are also seasoned performers. Having recorded and toured with a veritable “who’s who” of the jazz realm, The Jazz Professors include director and saxophonist Jeff Rupert and Marty Morell, a former member of the Bill Evans Trio.

�鶹ӳ����ý’s student ensemble players are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kevin Eubanks, the Wayne Shorter Quartet, and Grace Kelly on JazzWeek’s “Most Added” chart. The Blues is Alright, by the �鶹ӳ����ý Jazz Ensemble I and Jazz Workshop, features three original songs as well as new and classic arrangements of several jazz standards.

Do That Again and The Blues is Alright are published by �鶹ӳ����ý Music’s label, Flying Horse Records. Both records are available for purchase. Digital downloads are available from most major online music retailers.

JazzWeek is the definitive Jazz and Smooth Jazz national radio airplay chart—a weekly report of the top 50 jazz and smooth jazz recordings played on radio stations across the United States and Canada. Radio reporters and industry subscribers receive the weekly Jazz Fax or Smooth Fax with the current chart each Friday.