ELMHURST UNIVERSITY JAZZ BAND
In the spring of 2021, master jazz educator Doug Beach retired after 43
years as the director of the Elmhurst University Jazz Band. In the fall of the
same year, Kirk Garrison was hired as the director of this group that has
earned worldwide acclaim as an outstanding ensemble.
Formerly under the direction of Doug Beach, the Elmhurst University Jazz
Band has earned worldwide acclaim as an outstanding ensemble. In June of
2014, the Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards named the Elmhurst
College Jazz Band the Undergraduate College winner in the large jazz
ensemble category.
The band has performed in Greece, Romania, England, Scotland, Ireland,
Croatia, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic,
Poland, Austria, Italy, Indonesia, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Spain, Serbia,
Bulgaria, Canada and the Bahamas. It has twice toured Europe at the
invitation of the U.S. State Department. It has appeared at the Montreux Jazz
Festival, the Northsea Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival, the Vienne
Jazz Festival, Bohemia Jazz and others. In 1997, the band was the only
college jazz ensemble invited to perform at the Jak Jazz Festival in Jakarta,
Indonesia.
Closer to home, the Elmhurst University Jazz Band has performed at
festivals across the United States, and has received outstanding ratings from
jazz greats Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Rob McConnell, Nicholas Payton,
Randy Brecker and Bob Brookmeyer among others. In 2001, the band
accompanied Dee Dee Bridgewater on the main stage at the Chicago Jazz
Festival in Grant Park.
The band regularly appears with the most respected musicians in
professional jazz. Recent guest artists have included Bobby Shew, the
Yellowjackets, The Maria Schneider Orchestra, The Count Basie Orchestra,
Patti Austin, Denis DiBlasio, Wayne Bergeron, Dee Dee Bridgewater,
Orbert Davis, Marshall Gilkes, Jeff Hamilton, Tamir Hendelman, John
Pizzarelli, Tom Scott, Gary Smulyan, Terell Stafford, Steve Wiest, Anthony
Wilson, Bill Watrous, and Patrick Williams. In October of 2017, the band
was invited by the legendary Doc Severinsen to accompany him on a concert
tour of Ohio.