About the Columbia Jazz Band

Our Artistic Partners: The Columbia Jazz Band

Thanks to a partnership begun in 2016, The Columbia Jazz Band now presents its popular jazz series in tandem with our orchestral, chamber, and open rehearsal series. The CJB brings with it a long history of artistic excellence and a world-class director in Fred Hughes.

The Columbia Jazz Band (CJB) is in its 28th year and performs a diverse mix of jazz (big band through contemporary) as well as blues, Latin, swing, standards and pop at concerts and dances throughout the greater Washington D.C. area. Notable performances include feature artist concerts with outstanding vocalist Delores King Williams and four-time Grammy winner Gordon Goodwin, as well as multiple performances at The Rouse Theater, the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and the legendary Blues Alley Jazz Club. Our five international tours have included standing room only performances across Austria, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Highlights include the prestigious Montreux International Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Bulls Head Jazz Club (London), Wigan Jazz Festival (Manchester), Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Jazz à Juan (France), Jazzaldia Festival (Spain) and Jazz à Vienne (France).

The Columbia Jazz Band is equally at home in an intimate jazz dinner theater or on a festival stage entertaining thousands. You can view a listing of the band's jazz series for the season.

Visit the CJB's website at www.columbiajazzband.org to hear sound samples and learn more about the group and their events. You can also follow the CJB on Facebook. For booking information, please contact the Band Manager.

Fred Hughes

Fred Hughes, as a former pianist and soloist for the Jazz Ambassadors, has performed in all fifty states, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Europe. A sampling of the jazz festivals at which he has performed include the Newport, Montreux, Nice and North Sea Jazz Festivals.

An avid educator, Fred was Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at Shepherd College. He has presented workshops and clinics at conferences for the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA), Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. He has conducted numerous county, state and regional honors groups including the Maryland All State Jazz Band and the MENC All-Eastern Honors Jazz Ensemble.

Fred can be heard on over 30 recordings and has performed with the Baltimore and Chicago Symphony Orchestras as well as jazz greats Claudio Roditi, Al Cohn, Arturo Sandoval, Roy Hargrove, Bill Watrous, and Toots Thielemans. As a conductor, he has directed the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Atlanta and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestras, Washington and Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was musical director for the Three Mo’ Tenors and conductor of the Chesapeake Bay Community Band.

In addition to having written a book, The Jazz Pianist: Left Hand Voicings and Chord Theory, Fred is a composer and has an active performing schedule with the Fred Hughes trio with eight recordings to their credit.