As guests arrived at the Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center in the Plough Performance Hall for Bluff City Fest on Wednesday, Oct. 2, a night of musical performances awaited them.
For music majors at the University of Memphis taking the jazz combos class, the Bluff City Fest is an essential part of their curriculum in their jazz combos class.
Dr. Jack Cooper, director of Jazz Studies, says that while these combo performances have always been a part of the curriculum for some music students, it has been known as Bluff City Fest for the last 3 years.
Cooper said, “In terms of this Bluff City Fest, we’ve tried to market it and make it in a way so more people show up and hear what we’re doing.”
Ultimately, Cooper strives to find another off-campus venue where this event can be held in the future. Typically, Bluff City Fest is held at The Bluff on Highland, but with The Bluff’s closing a few months ago, the music department had to settle for an on-campus venue for the time being.
Bluff City Fest included music from various genres, including rap, contemporary rock, pop, blues, jazz, and classic rock, performed by the next generation of Memphis musicians.
During the event, seven different musical groups performed classic songs ranging from “I Would Rather Go Blind” by Etta James and “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Other songs performed included “Big Iron” by Marty Robbins, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” by Tina Turner, “Kiss” by Prince, “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder, “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross, and a few others including an original song about Memphis written by a student who said, “I came here (Memphis) from a small town looking to find people and pursue my music journey, and so far I’ve been succeeding at that and I just feel very thankful that I’m here and I love the city."
From an educator standpoint, Cooper believes that these events are beneficial to the students because they provide them with opportunities to perform and learn how to entertain an audience. Students taking the jazz combos class are pursuing various degrees including Commercial Music, BFA of Arts and Music Technology, BFA of Arts in Music Business, BFA of Music in Jazz Studies, and Music Education.
When asked what a challenge was of putting this event together, it all comes down to “having enough rehearsal time,” said Cooper. Students only take this class once a week for an hour meaning that they only get an hour of rehearsal time each week.
Given this challenge, the students were able to pull through. Cooper said, “In the end, I am very proud of them and the fact that people were entertained.”
There will be another Bluff City Fest held on Nov. 20, at The Green Room at Crosstown Arts.
