Jazz Festival

February 6, 2024

The 2024 Snow College Jazz Festival features special guest artist, Jeff Jarvis.  The festival will be held at Snow College in the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts on the Snow College campus.  This one-day festival celebrates jazz through performances, clinics and special performances by our amazing guest artists.  High School, junior high school, and middle school jazz ensembles, jazz combos, and vocal jazz groups are invited to perform.  The festival is non-competitive, and each band has a performance slot followed by an in person clinic with all of the guest artists/faculty.  It is a great way to prepare your band for upcoming adjudicated performances.  All jazz enthusiasts are invited to attend.  The Festival is hosted by Dr. Steven Erickson, Director of Jazz Studies, Snow College.  The cost is $150 per group/school.

High Schools, Junior High Schools and Middle Schools are invited to participate
Big Bands, Jazz Combos, and Vocal Jazz groups are invited to participate

Step One - Register for the JCU Jazz Festival

Step Two - Purchase Your Tickets

 

Festival Adjudicators

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• Assistant Professor David Baker
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• David Baker is currently serving as Assistant Professor and Area Coordinator of Jazz & Commercial Music at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He received his Doctor of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado in Jazz Studies emphasizing in performance and composition. He has been an active performer for over fifteen years including performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Moab Music Festival, Vail Jazz Festival, Gene Harris Jazz Festival, The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, Dazzle™ Jazz & Supper Club, The Velvet Note, the International Society of Bassists Convention, The Jazz Education Network Conference, and the Colorado Symphony. He has shared the stage with Greg Gisbert, Ulysses Owens Jr., Bob Sheppard, Kobe Watkins, Carmen Bradford, Corey Christiansen, and Drew Zaremba. Similarly, he has been featured alongside pop acts such as Frankie Avalon, The Platters, Pixie & The Partygrass Boys, and Kansas. David was awarded the First Alternate position in the International Society of Bassists' 2019 Jazz Performance Competition. David is an active member of the Utah jazz community and can be seen regularly performing throughout the state. His longterm collaboration with pianist Alex Sjobeck yielded a duo album entitled Pictures in Time (Next Level Records), that garnered positive critical acclaim. He has recently earned a reputation as the regional slap upright bass expert, having presented at the 2023 International Society of Bassists Convention on the topic. In addition to his work as a performer/educator, David serves as the Director of Programs for his 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Hot House West and serves in their flagship ensemble, the Hot House West Swing Orchestra, as co-bandleader, bassist, and staff arranger. This ensemble released their debut album, Patron Saint Django, in September of this year.

  David has given masterclasses and lectures across the United States including most recently at the 2023, 2021, and 2019 International Society of Bassists Convention and the 2020 Jazz Educator's Network Conference in New Orleans. His recent research aims to redefine early jazz history and focuses on the consequential role of pluralism and religion in the creation of jazz. In 2022, David published the article "Opening the Door: Using Pluralism as a Philosophical Lens in the Jazz History Classroom" in Jazz Education in Research and Practice (Indiana University Press).

• Professor Steven Erickson

Steven Erickson is originally from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.  He is an accomplished pianist, arranger, and composer in both the classical and jazz styles.  Steve studied piano performance at Brigham Young University (BMus., 1987), Rice University (MMus., 1992), and the University of Kansas.  He served as the director of jazz studies at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri from 1996 to 1997. 

In 1997 he joined the US Air Force, performing with Air Force Bands for 20 years, including 18 years with the premier jazz ensemble of the Air Force, “The Airmen of Note.”  While with the Note, he performed for numerous tours, jazz festivals and music conventions, recorded 10 CDs, and played on more than 30 radio and television broadcasts, including Jazz Heritage Series broadcasts with such guest artists as Clark Terry, Doc Severinsen, Nicolas Payton, Phil Woods, Kenny Garrett, Walt Weiskopf, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ron Carter, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, New York Voices, and many others. He also produced 29 big band and orchestral arrangements for the Air Force band.  

After retiring from the military in 2017, Steve served as an adjunct faculty member at Utah Valley University, Brigham Young University, University of Utah, BYU Idaho, and Snow College, and was the recipient of the Utah Arts Festival Commission for Jazz Arrangers in 2020.  He has served as clinician and adjudicator at jazz festivals in Utah and Idaho, and regularly performs with bands and artists in Salt Lake City and Utah Valley.

Dr. Ben Nichols

Dr. Ben Nichols is an accomplished saxophonist, composer, and educator known for his global performances and collaborations with renowned musicians. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Brigham Young University, where he leads the saxophone studio and directs the jazz ensemble Synthesis. Nichols is also the founder of the Crossover Saxophone Quartet and has published research in the Jazz in Education and Research Scholarly Journal.

He has made significant contributions to the award-winning jazz ensemble Synthesis, performing on three albums, including "The Day After Yesterday," which earned the band recognition from DownBeat Magazine. Nichols has received accolades, including Outstanding Saxophone Soloist at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and his role in the Ryan Innes Band's victory at the Stadium of Fire in 2012.

Nichols is a multi-instrumentalist, starting with piano at age eight and later picking up the bass clarinet, clarinet, saxophone, and flute. He has showcased his versatility by playing classical repertoire and contributing to various musical productions.

He pursued his passion at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, studying under jazz legends like Jerry Bergonzi, Donny McCaslin, Miguel Zenon, and Jason Moran. He later completed a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), achieving a perfect 4.0/4.0 GPA and receiving the Cooke Fellowship.