SEMJA Turns Twenty-Five

EMJA has been a supporter of jazz in the area for a quarter of a century, and we will celebrate this in several ways.

On April 21 at the Kerrytown Concert House, we will bestow this year’s SEMJA Award to our founder, Ron Brooks (right), for his contributions as a bassist, bandleader, club owner, and community member. The Ron Brooks Trio (with pianist Tad Weed and drummer George Davidson) plus various guests will perform at this SEMJA/KCH Club Series event, where we serve beer, wine, and soft drinks in a club setting. More details will be forthcoming about this very special event.

The SEMJA UPDATE will also feature articles about our accomplishments over the next four issues. The breadth of our activities to support jazz is really impressive once you start tallying what we have done:

• Master workshops at the Detroit Jazz Festival
• Youth workshops for middle and high school students
• Scholarships for students at high school and college levels
• Meet-the-artist sessions at clubs and festivals
• Band director conferences
• Concerts by local and national artists
• Support for the Michigan Jazz Festival
• Edgefest educational activities
• Publishing the SEMJA UPDATE — with a monthly jazz calendar, reviews and previews of jazz performances and recordings by local jazz artists

We could not have done this without the loyal support of our members.

I N - T H I S - I S S U E :
1. SEMJA TURNS TWENTY-FIVE
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