Jazz Outreach Initiative Offers Free Concert on April 29 To Benefit Ukraine

Jazz Outreach Initiative will celebrate International Jazz Day locally by presenting a free big band jazz concert at Community Lutheran Church on April 29.

The concert, April in Vegas, will feature its Las Vegas Youth Jazz Orchestra presenting their spring concert followed by the professional JOI Jazz Orchestra which is receiving rave reviews at each of its performances! The concert will also benefit humanitarian efforts for the people of Ukraine. Guests are encouraged to wear “Sunflower Yellow” to the concert.

April is International Jazz Month and April 30 is International Jazz Day. JOI will be included in the worldwide celebration of International Jazz Day. According to the official publication, “The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. International Jazz Day is chaired and led by UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay and legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue and Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. The Institute is the nonprofit charged with planning, promoting, and producing this annual celebration.”

Jazz Outreach Initiative will perform a free big band jazz concert at Community Lutheran Church, 3720 E Tropicana Ave., at 7 p.m. Friday, April 29. TICKETS ARE NOT REQUIRED. Visit www.jazzoutreachinitiative.org for more information.

Community Lutheran Church and Jazz Outreach Initiative offer free concert on Nov. 10

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a free concert featuring Clint Holmes and Kenny Rampton with the JOI Jazz Orchestra and the Las Vegas Youth Jazz Orchestra to be performed at the new JOI HQ.

Community Lutheran Church and Jazz Outreach Initiative host a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at new JOI HQ, 3690 E. Tropicana Ave. beginning at 6 p.m. on Wed. Nov. 10. Following the brief ceremony at 6:30 p.m. at the new JOI HQ office, JOI will present a free “Thank You” Concert, open to the public, at 7:30 p.m. across the street in the main sanctuary of Community Lutheran Church located at 3720 E Tropicana Ave, near the corner of Tropicana Avenue and Sandhill Road. Tickets are not required.

“The outstanding support for Jazz Outreach Initiative by Pastor Ben Bergren and the entire pastoral and leadership team at Community Lutheran Church affords us a unique opportunity to continue our outstanding programs connecting the language of music to the language of life for youth throughout our community,” said Donny Thompson, Executive Director for JOI.

Pastor Ben Bergren added, “We fully believe in and support the mission of the Jazz Outreach Initiative and the deep impact JOI has for the youth in our community. Youth are our future, and the arts are vital to sustaining and improving the quality of life for everyone. Community Lutheran Church has always celebrated the importance of the arts, and we incorporate that fully as part of our core values and in our message to our congregation.”

Community Lutheran Church has a long history of supplementing its pastoral ministries with the arts in Southern Nevada. When Jazz Outreach Initiative’s co-founder and V.P. of Programming, Gary Cordell, approached the church, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Cordell performs regularly for the congregation on trumpet and performs free military bugler services for fallen service members, including those who attend CLC through his charity, TAPPS. The ability to base out of the large open area located within the new “JOI HQ” space has already enabled the charity to rehearse both the Las Vegas Youth Jazz Orchestra and the new professional JOI Jazz Orchestra in an environment that allows adequate distancing and other safety protocols including disinfectant spraying and more.

The Las Vegas Youth Jazz Orchestra is comprised of talented student musicians from across the valley aged middle school through 19. The LVYJO was created in February 2020, just before the pandemic shutdown, and recorded numerous YouTube performances throughout that year.

The JOI Jazz Orchestra was founded in late 2020 and is a professional big band made up of some of the finest musicians in the world. Many of these performers also serve as volunteer mentors with the LVYJO. The JOI Jazz Orchestra released two YouTube recordings in December and January, including a world premiere of Kenny Rampton’s arrangement of “Smile” featuring Clint Holmes and members of the LV Philharmonic strings, and “Merry Christmas Baby” arranged by Sherman Irby for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. JOI co-founder, Artistic Director, and President is Kenny Rampton, a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Jazz Outreach Initiative is a 501(c)(3) music educational nonprofit charity whose programs connect the language of music to the language of life for youth throughout our community. JOI operates on three primary pillars, jazz awareness, outreach programs, educational programs, and performances. JOI hosts the nation’s largest annual Regional Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival. JOI also founded and leads the Las Vegas Youth Jazz Orchestra, comprised of middle school and high school-aged students from across the valley. JOI also presents educational programs at CCSD elementary, middle, and high schools, emphasizing Title 1 “at-risk” populations. And recently, JOI launched “Jazz Routes,” which provides youth with donated instruments and a year of free private lessons. In November, JOI will officially launch its first public performance by the JOI Jazz Orchestra; a professional big band made up of JOI’s stable of outstanding volunteer mentors and some of the region’s first-call musicians. For more info, visit www.jazzoutreachinitiative.org.