Annual Savannah Jazz Festival comes to an end Sunday

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The annual Savannah Jazz Festival kicked off Monday.

Bringing more than 15 free shows to venues throughout the city.

“After nearly a week of events and music, the Savannah Jazz Festival is wrapping up.”

Savannah Jazz, along with the city and other sponsors, hosted Jazz performances all week.

Sunday was not only festival’s last day but also its Student Day.

Lineup featured music from a few high schools and colleges.

Including Georgia State’s Jazz Band.

“They’re wonderful young musicians, we’ve been preparing for this for about a month now. It’s a little early in the year for us, but we put the hammer to them and said, you got to do this, and the kids are very excited.”

Grad students and upperclassmen from Georgia State’s Jazz Studies Program performed one of its top combos.

A tribute to renowned Jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie.

He says he’s excited to see how future generations bring new sounds to the old genre.

“They’re perfectly placed to incorporate all these different sounds into a jazz music that’s going to be different from their predecessors but also pay homage and also be full of life and an incredible experimentation and expression.”

“It’s just a lovely thing to see students out here doing their thing.”

A local says she had a good time listening to today’s groups.

“It was definitely a great experience, I enjoyed hearing the Georgia State Jazz Band.”

Bennett lives in Savannah and says its important festival is helping support student musicians.

“I feel like it really allows them to be able to show their talent. Even more so, it also exposes other individuals to exactly what they do. It also opens up opportunities as well.”