Jazz at Southeastern
Explore this section
Southeastern’s long and distinguished jazz history includes being the alma mater of pianist Bill Evans (1950 BM), the recipient of seven Grammy Awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Recording Academy. Other notable jazz alumni include Craig Klein (2021 Grammy Award Winner), Durand Jones and Zakk Garner. The Department of Music and Performing Arts offers the Bachelor of Music, Concentration in Jazz Studies.
The Bill Evans Jazz Festival, presented every April at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, includes four days of concerts featuring a nationally known guest artist with the Southeastern jazz faculty and the University Jazz Ensemble. The festival also presents the Louisiana Association for Jazz Education (LAJE) State Jazz Festival, hosting over 25 jazz ensembles from throughout the region ranging from junior high to university level, making it one of the largest collegiate jazz festivals on the Gulf Coast.
The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies in Sims Memorial Library is home to the Bill Evans Archive which houses interviews, letters, manuscripts, recordings and other items related to Bill Evans career and time at Southeastern.
Find Us On
Jazz Faculty
Michael Brothers
Director Emeritus, Bill Evans Jazz Festival
Jazz Studies Courses
- Applied Lessons
- Jazz Ensemble
- Jazz Lab Band
- Jazz Combo
- Fundamentals of Jazz Improvisation
- Jazz Improvisation II
- History and Appreciation of Jazz
- Basic Jazz Piano
- Jazz Theory/Composition
- Jazz Arranging I & II
- Jazz Pedagogy