Our History

(beginning in 1994)

Previous jazz festivals have featured

• the "Crosswinds" with members from Topeka and Lawrence;
• the "New Vintage Jazz Band" from Wichita;
• Tom Fowler, and the Wichita State University Jazz Arts 1;
• Bryce Luty and Friends from Hutchinson Community College;
• Kurtis Koch, and All That Jazz from Great Bend and Hays;
• Karrin Allyson Quintet, a local personality now living in Kansas City;
• the University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble and Singers;
• the Washburn University Jazz Ensemble 1; and
• the internationally known pianist, composer and arranger, Frank Mantooth.

the local Jay Bennett Big Band,
• the Great Bend High School Panther Jazz,
• the Barton County Community College Jazz Band and
• the Great Bend Middle School Jazz Band.