Music

Bon Iver Plus Jazz?

Memorial alum Justin Vernon will play a sendoff concert with the Memorial jazz band.

Trevor Kupfer |

    The Super Bowl of high school jazz competitions in the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City (produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center). Only 15 bands in the nation make it to the prestigious competition, and Memorial High School recently found out that, for the second year in a row, it will be one of them. In honor of this rare feat, alum Justin Vernon has agreed to play a sendoff concert with the jazz band on Sunday, April 19. Vernon, of Bon Iver fame, was part of Memorial’s first invite to the festival exactly 10 years ago. The concert will begin at 6:30pm with a set from Jazz II and III. At 7pm, Jazz I will play the four-song set planned for New York, plus a few other tunes. At 7:30pm, Vernon will join Jazz I for about a half-dozen songs, potentially including some Ella Fitzgerald and at least one re-worked Bon Iver track, all of which Vernon will provide vocals for. Tickets are $10 (general admission), available now at Schmitt Music, Morgan Music, Brickhouse Music, Festival Foods, Racy’s, or at the door.