by Tom Uribes
The first Billy Higgins-Fresno State Jazz Festival April 30 and May 1 on campus will feature an impressive line-up of world-renowned jazz artists and dozens of college and high school bands for two days of competition and performances.
Before performing in concerts open to the general public on Friday and Saturday evenings, Billy Higgins, the most recorded jazz drummer in history, and other guest artists will lead clinics during the day.
Proceeds from the concert's ticket revenue will provide scholarships for music students and help defray costs of future artists' residencies, said Dr. Larry Sutherland, Fresno State's director of bands.
In the first public performance on Friday at 7 p.m., Higgins will be joined by guest artists John Hicks on piano, Peter Leitch on guitar, and David Williams on bass in the Concert Hall of the Music Building. Fresno State's Alumni Jazz Band A will open the program.
On Saturday, May 1, the program will begin in the university's Amphi- theatre at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by the winning high school and college bands, Sutherland said.
They will be followed by Eric Person's Meta-Four and the Terence Blanchard Group. The Saturday evening concert will close with the Billy Higgins Quintet featuring Higgins on drums, Cedar Walton on piano, Richard Reid on bass, Harold Land on tenor saxophone, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, and special guest Jackie McLean on alto saxophone.
Sutherland said Fresno State held a jazz festival until about six years ago, when funding dried up. Now 32 bands will help reintroduce the festival; 16 bands are scheduled to perform each day. The daytime competitions are free and open to the public in the Concert Hall.
"This is an unusual festival for a college -- so many big-name artists are participating," Sutherland said. "Most colleges can enlist two to three at the most, but we will have about ten. This approaches the caliber of the Monterey Jazz Festival."
He credits Jo Ann Collins, project administrator in Administrative Services, for spearheading efforts to bring the top jazz artists to Fresno State. Her connections to the jazz world stem from having founded Jazz Saint Louis, a not-for-profit arts organization in Missouri.
"Billy Higgins is one of the most respected and loved jazz artists by fellow musicians and audiences around the world," Collins said. "We are pleased that he has agreed to lend his name to our festival."
The evening concerts are presented by University Student Union Productions and the Department of Music with tickets available through Bass outlets and in the USU. Call ext. 8-2078 for ticket information and ext. 8-4680 for artist information.
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