Jazz Ensemble 1

J.B. Scott, director

The University of North Florida Jazz Ensemble 1 is the flagship ensemble of the prestigious University of North Florida Jazz Studies Program, headed by legendary alto saxophonist Bunky Green. 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 all members of the UNF Jazz Studies Program 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 for its improvisational prowess and precision ensemble playing. The band has received performance awards from DownBeat each year since 2002, and has been invited to perform at prestigious jazz festivals in both the U.S. and in Europe. The Ensemble also has been invited to perform at International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences in Atlanta, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans, the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, the Suncoast Jazz Festival in Tampa, the Savannah Jazz Festival, the Mobile Jazz Festival, and annually at 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 more than 100 esteemed artists, such as Herbie Hancock, The Count Basie Orchestra, Joe Henderson, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Dave Brubeck, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Louie Bellson, Dr. Billy Taylor, Arturo Sandoval, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Doc Severinsen, among others.

Contact J.B. Scott at (904) 620-3847 for more information.