Southern Fried Jazz at BRSC

Don Edwards, veteran trumpet player of the Southern Fried Jazz Band, says that “Jazz is especially reflective of our nation’s personality and spirit.”

That sentiment is exactly why the Big Band veteran organized this eight-piece ensemble, which performs a concert of authentic Dixieland jazz for one night only, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mariam & Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock.

All members of the octet boast a resume of Big Band tours and early jazz clubs; Edwards’s distinctive and extensive career dates back to the Big Band era and includes movies, festivals and sharing the stage with showbiz legends such as Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.

A performance by the Southern Fried Jazz band bridges generation gaps, blending narration and personal anecdotes into an aural history lesson of jazz in America.

Instrumentals are accented with vocals and seasoned with spontaneity. These heady ingredients have launched Southern Fried Jazz Band from the Piedmont Foothills of North Carolina into the national spotlight.

Tickets to the June 30, 7:30 p.m. performance of the Southern Fried Jazz Band are $20, $14 students, and are available now by calling the Box Office at 828-295-9627. You may pay by credit card or by cash (in person). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.HayesCenter.org by credit card. Special group rates are also available. Season and Flex Passes can be purchased and used throughout the entire '08 season.

Upcoming shows at the Hayes Performing Arts Center:
Please check website frequently as performances, times and additional touring shows are constantly added.

June 27-July 12
LEADING LADIES
Comedic farce about two down-and-out Shakespearean actors who masquerade as the nieces of a wealthy dying woman to inherit her fortune

July 7
SUMMER BLUES FESTIVAL
The King Bees, Sandra Hall and Clifford Curry heat up summertime

July 18-Aug. 3
PETER PAN
By The Blowing Rock Stage Company. J.M. Barrie’s fantasy comes to life in this musical adaptation

July 21
THE LASCIVIOUS BIDDIES
“The cast of Sex and the City transformed into a modern jazz quartet.” -- Time Out NY

Aug. 10
YUJA WANG
World-renowned, award-winning, 20-year-old concert pianist. Fundraiser.

Aug. 15-24
RUMORS
By The Blowing Rock Stage Company. Neil Simon’s hilarious dining room farce

The mission of the Mariam & Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center is to pursue excellence in every way including programming and superior services for our patrons; engage audiences of diverse ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds; instill in the children and youth of the community a life-long love and participation in the arts; and be a community gathering place for active exchange about culture and creativity.

The Hayes Performing Arts Center is located at 152 Jamie Fort Road (off Hwy 321), Blowing Rock, NC. Tel: (828) 295-9627