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Gene Harris Jazz Festival returns for its 24th year

Headliner Bria Skonberg kicks off this year's festival with a live virtual concert at 8 p.m. Friday.
Credit: KTVB
The Gene Harris Jazz Festival in Boise, Idaho, is named in honor of Gene Harris (1933-2000), pictured here.

BOISE, Idaho — The popular Gene Harris Jazz Festival is returning for its 24th year and kicks off in a big way.

Headlining artist Bria Skonberg performs a live virtual concert at 8 p.m. Friday. Skonberg is an award-winning vocalist and trumpeter.

Her performance will be streamed live on the Gene Harris website.

Skonberg has performed at festivals and on stages all over the world. She's the winner of the 2017 JUNO award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, and is known as a trailblazing trumpeter, vocalist, and songwriter who has performed alongside U2, Dave Matthews Band, Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, and Jon Batiste.

Educational opportunities:

The Gene Harris Jazz Festival is committed to supporting and enriching music education in the Treasure Valley and across the state. Historically, this event brought more than 1,500 Idaho students to Boise State's campus to work with professional musicians. The virtual nature of this year's event will expand the reach of these opportunities and events to a global audience. 

There are close to 30 different educational events scheduled throughout April, with sessions focused on topics like composition, improvisation, career development, rhythmic practice, history, and instrument-specific material. Schools can also adopt the month-long jazz curriculum that includes activities and assignments for students.

Full Concert Schedule:

All 9 virtual concerts will stream free of charge on the Gene Harris website. Concerts will 'premiere' starting at midnight on the day of the event and can be watched at any point that day or through the month.

Friday, April 2: Bria Skonberg
Friday, April 9: The Bushwood Collective
Fri. April 9: Emmet Cohen/Veronica Swift
Friday, April 16: LeBoeuf Brothers
Friday, April 16: Alex Sjobeck Trio
Friday, April 23: Canyon County Connection
Friday, April 23: Boise State Jazz Orchestra
Friday, April 30: Boise State University Faculty Jazz-Tet
Fri., Apr 30: Boise State Music Alumni Spotlight

Remembering Gene Harris:

Remembered as Boise's most famous jazz musician, Gene Harris was a pianist known for his soulful, warm style that infused the sounds of blues and gospel jazz music. In 1956, he formed a trio with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Bill Dowdy known as The Three Sounds. The group recorded regularly for Verve and Blue Note until 1970.

Harris retired to Boise in 1977 and performed regularly at local venues like the Idanha Hotel. He later played with Ray Brown in the Ray Brown Trio and then led his own groups until his death in 2000. Harris passed away while waiting for a kidney transplant at the age of 66.

The Gene Harris Jazz Festival and Endowment Fund

In 1996, several years after Gene retired to Boise, he and a group of community leaders, educators, and musicians formed the Gene Harris Endowment to provide scholarships for jazz music students at Boise State University. In 1998, they formed the Gene Harris Jazz Festival – an event that could help contribute to the endowment and give the community more exposure to the jazz genre. In turn, Harris drew some of the best jazz artists to Boise to perform for the public at night and work with aspiring musicians during the day. Over the years, the festival has brought artists including Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Arturo Sandoval, Poncho Sanchez, Kevin Eubanks, and many more.

The Gene Harris Endowment still exists today, but contributions largely ceased following Gene's death. The current festival vision looks to rekindle and rebuild the endowment in order to continue supporting music students, visiting jazz artists, and the Gene Harris Jazz Festival itself.



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