LU Department of Music presents fourth annual Jimmy Simmons Jazz Festival

The Lamar University Mary Morgan Moore Department of Music will present the fourth annual Jimmy Simmons Jazz Festival on April 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jefferson Theatre in downtown Beaumont. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

Featured clinicians this year are: Warren Sneed, Tim McMillen, Noe Marmolejo, Bob Athayde and Bob Mintzer. The event will include a performance from 17-time Grammy nominated jazz group Yellowjackets.

This event recognizes the career of President Emeritus Jimmy Simmons, who is a lifelong jazz performer. The festival is made possible through the assistance of the Williams family, who provided an endowment for the department to present the festival annually.

Local high school bands will perform and clinics will be held throughout the day at the University Theatre on the campus of Lamar University, followed by the performance of the Yellowjackets at the Jefferson Theatre later that evening.

“The four members of the Yellowjackets have been at the forefront of jazz and pop fusion music and education for decades and have played every major festival and club on the planet,” said Rick Condit, director of the jazz band and professor of saxophone at Lamar University. “The fact that the group has released over 25 recordings, been nominated for 17 Grammy awards and won two speaks volumes about their stature in the music world."

Condit added that the students are “privileged to be able to share the stage with such world class artists."

For more information about the Jimmy Simmons Jazz Festival, please visit lamar.edu/jazzfestival