The Rodger Fox Big Band (RFBB) and vocalist Erna Ferry turned on a storming performance at JEN, the Jazz Educational Network Conference in New Orleans, featuring high powered recent RFBB material.

Rodger Fox said many world-class musicians attended the performance, including the legendary New Orleans funk drummer Stanton Moore, who he met after the concert and discussions are underway to bring Stanton to New Zealand later in the year to run educational workshops and perform in concert with the RFBB.

The RFBB were invited to represent New Zealand at the JEN Conference. The JEN Conference is one of the biggest jazz events in the world, bringing together 4,500-5,000 music fans and jazz educators from around the globe, with all jazz types, from beginners to pro experts, represented. JEN is part music festival, part networking, part education, and truly inspirational.

Rodger Fox says, “Attending JEN is a huge opportunity, particularly for the younger members of the Big Band, and one that will enable us to enhance the Band’s work with secondary school jazz musicians on our return to New Zealand.”

After the conference, the RFBB heads to Baltimore to perform at the Keystone Korner Club with special guest and drumming legend Dennis Chambers, who has recorded and played with artists including Santana, Steely Dan, Parliament/Funkadelic, John Scofield, The Jacksons, The Brecker Brothers, Victor Wooten, Mike Stern, and many others.

From Baltimore, the RFBB and Dennis Chambers head to Washington DC to perform at the Carlyle Room Club before landing in New York City, where they have a two day, 12-14 January, recording session booked at Sear Sound.

The RFBB almost missed the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the JEN Conference when their application to Creative NZ for funding assistance was turned down. At that point, Rodger Fox reached out to the wider jazz community, asking for help to raise the balance of the funding required, $89,000, to enable the big band to attend the festival.

Rodger Fox says, “We were blown away by the response. All the members of the RFBB are hugely grateful for the generosity and support shown by the hundreds of private people and organisations who stepped up and made this trip possible. Thank you for the tremendous support you have provided, which is very much appreciated by all of us.”

ENDS