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Jazz Saturday will be celebrated August 26 at the Bonnie Kate Theater in downtown Elizabethton. Featured in concert at 7:30 p.m. will be two fantastic jazz musicians – Mal Cooper and Will Boyd.
Boyd is a multi-reed instrumentalist, composer, and educator, who hails from soul sax tradition. Originally from Orangeburg, S.C., by way of Queens, N.Y., Boyd currently resides in Knoxville.
Boyd is a member of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and currently has two solo albums “Live at the Red Piano Lounge” and “Freedom Soul Jazz.”
Will moved to Knoxville in the early 2000s, and enrolled into the University of TN program where he would receive his Masters of Jazz Studies. During this period Will worked with many local soul, blues and jazz bands, while also studying and performing with prominent jazz educators saxophonist, author Jerry Coker (Woody Herman), South African free jazz artist Zim Ngqawana, and pianist, composer, producer Donald Brown (Art Blakey Jazz Messengers).
Since then, Will has had the opportunity to perform with many artists across genres including Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Wycliffe Gordon (Lincoln Center), Doc Severinsen (Tonight Show), Crissy Collins (Beyonce), Chris Blue (The Voice), Glen Jones, Jeff Coffin (Bella Fleck, Dave Mathews), Rick Simerly, Blanch McCallister-Dykes (Donald Lawrence), Elise Testone (American Idol), Amy Bormet, Laura Theadore, Dave Eggar, Regina Carter, Four Tops, Tommy Dorsey, and Harry James big band. He is also on recordings which include artists such as Nicholas Payton, Michael Dease, Greg Tardy, Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Scales, Eric Reed, Carmon Bradford, Chris Potter, Jeremy Pelt, Tim Green, Russell Gunn and Darryl Hall. Will has performed at many music festivals from Big Ears in Knoxville, to Peter Barakan’s It’s Magic in Tokyo, Japan.
Mal Cooper formerly played drums with the Port Jackson Jazz Band. He also plays the four-string plectrum banjo.
Tickets for the event are $10.
Other events coming up at the Bonnie Kate include Dirty Trixx featuring Meal Souls Friday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. It will be a night of high electrifying music and high-energy performance with two incredible bands.