Directors' Jazz Orchestra

The foundation of the Directors' Jazz Orchestra, began as a group to perform at the Anderson City Jazz Festival in the early 1990’s. After the festival was discontinued, the band ceased to perform. In 1999, a small group began playing for the North Side Middle School Jazz Concert in Anderson. The next year, a full group was used. In 2001, the band began in playing in its current form. With the continued success and uniqueness of a jazz band consisting of mostly music teachers, the group has continued to keep a full performance schedule. The group was selected to perform at the Indiana Music Education Association Conference four times, as recently as 2017. They have also performed for numerous community, school, and church events including gospel church services, school concerts, the Festival of Trees at the Paramount in Anderson, and a full summer concert series throughout Central Indiana. In 2006, the group became the resident band of the Madison County Jazz Festival, now the Pendleton Heights Jazz Festival. Currently, the band also performs for weddings, corporate events, and swing and ballroom dances including Fountain Square Ballroom. Repertoire includes big band classics, contemporary jazz, and numbers vocal numbers. The band has performed with such talent as Allen Vizzutti, Delfeayo Marsalis, Roger Ingram, Wycliffe Gordon, Bobby Shew, Greg Bissonette, Tom Garling, and Jeff Coffin. The band has been under the direction of Chris Taylor since its inception in 2001.