Jazz Ensemble 1
J.B. Scott, director
The
University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble 1, led by director J.B. Scott, is the
flagship ensemble of the prestigious University of North Florida Jazz Studies
Program. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Rich Matteson in 1986, UNF's
Jazz Ensemble 1 has enjoyed the reputation of being one of the finest
collegiate jazz ensembles worldwide. That the majority of the group members of
UNF JE 1 are undergraduates makes this achievement that much more impressive.
Jazz Ensemble
1 has won numerous group and individual awards and has been consistently
recognized by such publications as Cadence, Jazz Times, Jazz Educators Journal,
and DownBeat Magazine for its improvisational prowess and precision ensemble
playing. JE 1 was the first collegiate winner of the prestigious Monterey Next
Generation Festival in California. The band has consistently been invited to
perform at prestigious stages in both the U.S, Europe, and Asia, for the former
International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences in Atlanta, Boston, Miami,
and New Orleans, for Jazz Educators Network Conferences,
for the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago,
and for jazz festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz
Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Suncoast Jazz Festival, the Mobile
Jazz Festival, and annually at the Savannah Jazz Festival and the Jacksonville
Jazz Festival.
A special component of the UNF
Jazz Studies Program is the Great American Jazz Series, which regularly brings
in stellar jazz artists as residents. This series, along with other
opportunities, has enabled Jazz Ensemble 1 to perform in concert with 100's of
esteemed artists, including Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente, The Count Basie
Orchestra, Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Diane Schuur, Dave
Brubeck, Joe Williams, Ernie Watts, Dianne Reeves, the Air Force Airmen of
Note, Louie Bellson, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maria Schneider, Slide Hampton, Claudio
Roditi, Bill Watrous, the Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra, Arturo Sandoval, Jimmy
Heath, Jon Faddis and the Dizzie Gillespie Allstars, Nicolas Payton, Kevin
Mahogany, Wynton Marsalis, the Navy Commodores, Christine and Ingrid Jensen,
Branford Marsalis, Ed Calle, Kurt Elling, Doc Severinsen, Carmen Bradford,
Christian McBride, Michael Mossman, Luis Bonilla, Ignacio Berroa, Allen
Vizutti, Richard Stoltzman, Roy
Haynes, Marcus Roberts, Terry Gibbs, Joe Lovano, Billy Higgins, Benny Green,
Clark Terry, Jimmy Cobb, the Heath Brothers, Billy Taylor, Eddie Daniels,
Cassandra Wilson, Jeff Hamilton, Randy Brecker, Joshua Breakstone, Mulgrew
Miller, Steve Davis, John Lee, Conrad Harwig, Russell Malone, John and Jeff
Clayton, Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, Dave Holland, Cyrus Chestnut, John
Pizzarelli, Jack Petersen and many others.
Contact J.B. Scott, coordinator of Jazz Studies, the Great American Jazz Series and director of JE1, at (904) 620-3847 for
more information.
