April 10, 2025
Jazz Vespers at Epiphany to celebrate fifth anniversary
Members of the New Arts Jazztet, a Southern Illinois jazz group comprising SIU faculty and guests, will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Jazz Vespers, a monthly evening prayer service, at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 13, at Epiphany Lutheran Church, 1501 W. Chautauqua St., Carbondale.
Established in 2019 with a 13-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group has performed 298 different tunes for services, with 16 musicians in groups ranging from three to seven members playing at least 16 different instruments. Sunday’s event will be the group’s 60th Jazz Vespers performance.
Most of the music from the original 2019 service will be revisited for Sunday’s service, led by Pastor Brian Coffey. Members and guests of the New Arts Jazztet — Bob Allison, trumpet and flugelhorn; Brandon Bryant, trombone; Mel Goot, piano; Phil Brown, bass, and Kyle McDonald, drums — will perform works by Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Will Campbell, Duke Ellington, J.J. Johnson, Horace Silver and McCoy Tyner.
NAJ was formed in 1984 by several School of Music faculty and has been in residence from that time. The service will also be livestreamed on the Jazz Vespers at Epiphany Facebook page.