15th Annual Jax State Jazz Festival Scheduled for April 10

01/27/2026

By Brett Buckner 

At some university-sponsored music festivals, guest performers show up, play their sets, and leave, which doesn’t do much for the students in attendance. That’s not what happens at Jacksonville State University’s annual Jazz Festival.   

“From the beginning,” said Dr. Andrew Nevala, director of Jazz Studies, “the Jazz Festival was always focused on education.”   

Jax State’s 15th Annual Jazz Festival will be held April 10 in Mason Hall and will feature famed trumpeter and vocalist Joe Gransden with the Alabama Jazz Collective. The Jax State jazz faculty and jazz ensembles will also perform throughout the day.   

High school jazz bands from across Alabama and Georgia attend the festival to perform for respected jazz educators, who then provide detailed feedback. Participating students also take part in 30-minute, one-on-one clinics with clinicians and guest artists.  

“These students get to hear JSU Jazz Ensemble I perform with famous jazz musicians, such as Carmen Bradford, Pat Bianchi, Mace Hibbard, and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts. Grammy Award Winning Saxophonist Mace Hibbard and Trombonist Wes Funderburk will serve as the festival clinicians at this year’s event,” Dr. Nevala said. “It’s a huge recruitment tool. I have many students in my program now who attended this event as high school students. We are recruiting great kids to come here for jazz, and it has helped our program achieve national recognition.”  

The festival is supported in part by a $4,000 grant from the Alabama State Council of the Arts, which helps offset costs associated with guest artists and clinicians.  

“These grants are hard to get, and fortunately, we have received three grants from the Alabama State Council of the Arts for the Jazz Festival in my time here,” said Dr. Nevala, who was the co-principal grant investigator along with Emily Duncan, Executive Director of the Randy Owen Center for Performing Arts (ROC). “Money has been tight around here for a minute, and any help we can get is tremendously appreciated and needed.”  

The festival will host 10 different Jax State jazz groups, each requiring music and equipment to perform.   

“Even getting out to recruit at schools is expensive these days,” Dr. Nevala said. “Bus prices have more than doubled. We are trying to stretch every penny, and being awarded this grant allows us to bring great artists to perform with JSU students, recruit, and help bring the jazz program and JSU national recognition.”   

The Jax State jazz program has won two Downbeat Student Music Awards, and its Jazz Combo I performed at the Jazz Educators Network International Conference in New Orleans in early January.   

“Those are major achievements in jazz education,” Dr. Nevala said. “Many programs never receive that level of recognition.”  

Jax State’s jazz faculty also includes nationally and internationally experienced musicians, including Ben Weatherford, a graduate of Berklee College of Music; Andy Eulau, a member of the University of North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band who previously worked in New York; and Emrah Kotan, who performed on India.Arie’s most recent world tour.  

Combined with the annual festival, these accomplishments have steadily strengthened the program’s reputation within the jazz education community.  

“The Jazz Festival has continued to set the standard for an educationally focused festival in our region, and we have been at max capacity these last few years,” Dr. Nevala said. “We are eagerly awaiting the opening of the ROC, so we can expand and include even more groups.”   

About the JSU Jazz Festival: The JSU Jazz Festival is the only regional jazz festival in the state of Alabama that's primary focused on education. Clinics will be provided throughout the day, in addition to performances by the JSU jazz faculty and jazz ensembles. Participating groups receive a 30-minute clinic immediately following their performance by the festival adjudicators. There is a $125 participation fee, payable to JSU Jazz Studies, which covers clinicians, awards, a video of your performance (Yes, we can do that now), and a participation plaque. 

Contact Dr. Andy Nevala at anevala@jsu.edu for more information.