The Ladies First Jazz Big Band, an all-female jazz group, will perform during JCC’s annual Jazz Fest on April 4 in Scharmann Theatre on the Jamestown Campus.

The event, sponsored by the JCC’s music department and the college program committee of JCC’s Faculty Student Association, features a pre-concert discussion, “Women in Jazz,” at 7 p.m. and a performance, beginning at 8.

Admission prices are $4, general public; $3, area students and senior citizens; and $2, FSA members. Tickets are available in the JCC box office, 716.338.1187.

The band, formed by Jennifer May in 2002, has its roots in a six-piece ensemble, the Ladies First Band, which was established in 1994.

Since its first performance, the Ladies First Jazz Big Band has celebrated Women's History Month every March with a new production honoring women in jazz. Band members rehearse at the historic Colored Musicians Club in downtown Buffalo under the direction of Jennie Jones. Ladies First won the jazz small group award at the 2008 Buffalo Music Awards.

The pre-concert program features insights from band members Jennifer May, bassist; Jennie Jones, first alto sax and vocalist; Carol Svensen-Smith, third trumpet and piano; Kirsten Brown, first tenor sax; and Fran Scharett, alto sax. May, will discuss her five-year tour with the Department of Defense performing at military bases and embassies. Scharrett, who was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2003, will outline her career in the 1940s as a musician in all-female bands.

Jones, a founding member of the Buffalo Saxophone Quartet, will outline her music career in the Buffalo area. Svensen-Smith, an adjunct music faculty member at JCC, will outline the history of female musicians prior to 1940 while Brown, a performer with various bands, will discuss the achievements of female musicians after 1940.

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