BENJAMIN HENDRIX – The Corsair
The Pensacola State College Jazz Ensemble’s members got an early start this
semester by traveling to New Orleans Jan. 6 to perform in the annual Jazz Education Network Conference or JEN Conference. The conference was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans this year, and the Jazz Ensemble was one of five college bands invited to perform, while hundreds of other bands and thousands of musicians attended.
Even though it was the first day back from winter break, the ensemble had their “best yet,” performance, said ensemble member Jackson Willis.
“It was an incredible experience for anyone wanting to pursue a career in jazz music or for anyone who wants to teach jazz,” Willis said. “There were many different master classes to attend and multiple concerts one could go to.”
Another ensemble member, Michael Dobbs, said “It was a quite interesting and enlightening experience. I learned so much about jazz improvisation and all of the other bands were phenomenal.”