Jazz Pensacola is a community organization of jazz enthusiasts, including musicians, teachers, students and listeners, working together for the purpose of advancing jazz in Pensacola and the surrounding Central Gulf Coast region. Jazz Pensacola endeavors to provide a forum for jazz performance, education, and enjoyment for listeners and musicians.

We have memberships at all levels — individual, couple, corresponding (outside the area) and student, as well as advanced memberships all the way up to Sponsor.

Professional musician and long-time Jazz Pensacola member Roger Villines leads Jazz Pensacola’s monthly Jazz Jams.

Upcoming Events

Jazz Jam

Jazz Pensacola presents Jazz Jam 6:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6, at Odd Colony Brewing Co., 260 N. Palafox St., Pensacola, Florida.

Featuring the House Band, Jazz Jam is strictly for fun, an opportunity to play jazz with other musicians. Drummers, please bring your own sticks/brushes. Vocalists, bring your mic.

The House Band: Roger Villines, trumpet and flugelhorn; Andrew Gregg, keys; Steve Douglas, bass; Jimmy Roebuck, drums.

Admission: Donations.

Check out the brewery at oddcolony.com.

Jazz at the Library

Jazz Pensacola and The West Florida Public Library co-sponsor a series of free “Jazz by the Book” concerts hosted by a Jazz Pensacola founding member, Joe Occhipinti.

Professional musician Joe Occhipinti

Typically, concerts are 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays at various library branches. The next concerts are Feb. 7 and Feb. 28 at the Spring Street branch, 239 N. Spring St. 

Occhipinti and his friends perform jazz standards as an educational outreach to highlight the Jazz Room on the second floor of the downtown library.

The Jazz Room was made possible by a donation from the late Ralph Knowles, a devoted member of Jazz Pensacola. The collection of books, CDs, play-along recordings and other materials are valued at over $20,000 and are available for anyone with a library card. The Spring Street Jazz Room is one of only two rooms devoted exclusively to jazz in public libraries in the United States.

For more information, contact the downtown library reference desk at (850) 436-5064 or Lindsey Corey at (850) 438-5060 ext. 17642.

Jazz Gumbo:

Pearl Ash

Jazz Pensacola’s February Gumbo will do its part to honor Black History Month with a program by Pearl Ash, a lead vocalist for Mr. Big and the Rhythm Sisters, one of the premium wedding and convention bands on the Gulf Coast. Pearl has a varied career as a vocalist and actress in theater work, crowd motivation, doing commercial voice-overs, being a DJ, and singing in gospel groups. Pearl is also a featured vocalist on several CD music projects. She was the lead as Geneva Lee Brown in Pensacola Little Theater’s production of 1940’s Radio Hour. Her recent credits include include What the Heart Wants, Sacred Movie, and Murder Mystery Theatre: The MIA Bride, all with Elrico Tunstall’s Manager of the Year. She has appeared in NBC’s Bluff City Law, NatGeo’s Genius Aretha, and the Amazon Original movie Tomorrow War, just to name a few. Pearl is a high energy performer who knows how to keep a show moving along and to have the crowd dancing. 

Details: (850) 433-8382

Calendar

Raveen Kyles

Help Jazz Pensacola Administrator Raveen Kyles get your jazz events on the calendar by sending complete info — event date, beginning and end time of event, location, cost and contact info — to [email protected]. Thank you!