7th Annual St. George Jazz Festival Is Kickin’ Brass
Featuring Trombonist Fransisco Torres and Singer/Songwriter Kat Edmonson…
On February 10th and 11th, the 7th Annual St George Jazz Festival returns with wonderful concerts and informative clinics. Five-time Grammy and Latin Grammy nominee Francisco Torres headlines the festival. All events take place on the campus of Utah Tech University.
Torres is featured in a performance on Saturday, Feb 11th, backed by the Rebel Jazz Band in the Cox Auditorium. Torres is an in-demand musician and educator. Recording credits include Michael Buble, Ray Charles, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Dianne Reeves, and many more. He is the musical director for the legendary Poncho Sanchez and a member of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and John Beasley’s Monkestra.
“You’ve heard Torres on Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, and The Simpsons. Now come hear him live at our festival,” St George Jazz Artistic Director Glenn Webb says.
St George Jazz partners with UT Live to present Kat Edmonson and her band on Friday, Feb 10th at 7:30 PM. She will perform originals and familiar favorites. Kat is an award-winning songwriter and singer “with an equal foot in jazz, cabaret, and vintage cosmopolitan pop” (NY Times). She has been featured on Austin City Limits, Tiny Desk Concert, A Prairie Home Companion, and The Late Show.
Of Edmonson’s style, Webb muses, “I imagine if Cole Porter and Paul Simon worked together, they would ask Kat to sing the songs.”
Educational clinics are presented free for students and the public on both days of the festival. Edmonson and her band present a clinic at 2 PM in the Cox Auditorium on the Utah Tech campus. Torres will offer a clinic Saturday, Feb 12th, at 12:30 in the Eccles Concert Hall. Members of the Rebel Jazz Band provide other clinics at 11 AM on Saturday.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. Tickets for Kat Edmonson are available at utlive.org. Tickets range from $25-$55. Students’ day-of-show tickets are $10.
Tickets for the showcase concert featuring Francisco Torres are available online at https://utahtech.edu/ticket-office/. Tickets are $20 for General Admission.
Get 50% off admission when you buy four or more tickets with discount code 4ORMORE!
About the Festival
Now in its 7th year, the St. George Jazz Festival brings world-class performers to the beautiful red rocks of Southern Utah. These incredible jazz musicians inspire and educate an ever-growing pool of talented young jazz students. Joined by the Rebel Jazz Band, these nationally-acclaimed guest artists show off their skills at what continues to be Southern Utah’s most thrilling concert each year.
With tremendous performances and clinics by established heroes of the modern jazz world, anyone seeking an immersion in jazz will find immeasurable value in the St. George Jazz Festival. Middle school and high school jazz ensembles participate in a competition adjudicated by some of the finest jazz educators in Utah. The top band of the high school division enjoys the opportunity to share the stage with legendary guest artists such as Eric Marienthal on saxophone (2017), Drew Tucker on vibraphone (2018), Wayne Bergeron on trumpet (2018), Andy Martin on trombone (2019) Chuck Findley on trumpet (2020), Bob Reynolds on saxophone (2020) John Daversa on trumpet (2022). Virtual guest artists in 2021 were Melissa Aldana on saxophone, Ben Rosenblum on piano, Rudreth Mahanthappa on saxophone, and Glen Marhevka on trumpet.
