School Performance Registration
Dear Jazz Educator,
While we are always excited to announce our annual Hill Country Jazz Festival, this year brings a new energy. As we prepare for our 37th annual jazz festival it gives all of us great pleasure to announce that the Hill Country Jazz Festival is now the Butch Miles Jazz Festival! Butch Miles was a huge part in shaping Texas State jazz in his 14 years as jazz drum set instructor, and his legacy with the Count Basie Orchestra, Mel Torme, Dave Brubeck, and countless others is something we want to preserve and keep in the minds of the next generations of jazz musicians. Many of you met Butch, heard him play, or even were able to work with him on drum set or in a jazz combo. His passion for teaching was rivaled only by his amazing musicianship and his always-positive demeanor. We hope you’ll be able to join us as we celebrate Butch and kick off a new chapter in Texas State jazz!
This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, February 8th, 2025 on the beautiful Texas State University campus. In addition to our excellent facilities, including a just-completed renovation to Evans Auditorium, our outstanding adjudicators, clinicians, and performers promise to make this a memorable experience. As a non-competitive event, The Hill Country Jazz Festival does not select winners but does recognize exemplary big bands, combos, and individual instrumentalists with “Outstanding Performance Awards.” We have also added the Butch Miles Outstanding Jazz Musician Award for the top overall performer.
We are excited to announce that this year’s guest artist(s) will be Count Basie Orchestra drummers across the generations! What better way to celebrate the legacy of Butch Miles than to have three amazing drummers that are former and current Basie members? Harold Jones is a living legend, joining Basie in 1967 and appearing on 15 albums, including the seminal Basie Straight Ahead ! (How many tunes from that album have you played? All of them?) After Basie he toured with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Natalie Cole. He has has recorded with a long list of musicians, ranging from Tony Bennett to Eddie Harris, to Amy Grant. Gregg Field began playing with the Count Basie Orchestra at the age of 24, appearing first on the album A Warm Breeze. From 1985-86 he toured with Ella Fitzgerald, and was Frank Sinatra's last drummer, playing with him from 1991-1995. Field has won nine Grammys as a performer and producer and has been a faculty member at the University of Southern California since 1983. Robert Boone Jr. has been the drummer for the Count Basie Orchestra for seven years, joining soon after finishing his master’s degree at Florida State University. He has worked with jazz greats Marcus Roberts, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Veronica Swift, among others. He is currently on faculty at Georgia State University.
Bands will perform throughout the day on Saturday, February 8th in Evans Auditorium and the Performing Arts Center. At 5 p.m., there will be an hour-long clinic presented by Robert Boone Jr. Immediately following the clinic, the Jazz Ensemble will take the stage at Evans Auditorium.
This year we are excited to offer an online registration and payment option! The link to do so can be found on the sidebar. This should make it easier for many schools to control their registration and payment. For those schools wishing to still do paper registration and checks, the registration form is linked above. Jazz ensembles wishing to participate in the Hill Country Jazz Festival should complete the registration and fee of $200 by January 17th.
In addition to the above activities, an all-star big band will play a free concert on Friday, February 7th, at 7:30 p.m. in Evans Auditorium as part of our Eddie Durham Celebration. The band will feature Count Basie Orchestra tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence, UNLV jazz professor Adam Schroeder, former Frank Sinatra saxophonist Mike Smith, members of the Texas State jazz faculty, and Texas State alumni. The evening will also include a talk by Director of the National Jazz Museum Loren Schoenberg. We hope you can attend both events, but all school performances are only on Saturday, February 8th.
I look forward to your participation!
Dr. Utah Hamrick
Director of Jazz Studies
utah.hamrick@txstate.edu