Loyola University to feature trumpeter Gregg Stafford at concert honoring renowned New Orleans jazz musician Connie Jones

NEW ORLEANS – Loyola University New Orleans invites the public to enjoy an evening with celebrated trumpeter and vocalist Gregg Stafford, as he performs a traditional jazz tribute concert in honor of Connie and Elaine Jones.

Stafford, a music educator who is dedicated to preserving the heritage of the city’s brass bands, will perform with the Jazz Giants on March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium, in the Monroe Science Complex, 6363 St. Charles Ave.

“Gregg is one of the premiere New Orleans practitioners of traditional jazz, and this concert is sure to be a great example of this art form,” said Gordon Towell, coordinator of Jazz Studies at Loyola, which is home to the city’s largest university jazz program. “Connie Jones was one of the great New Orleans trumpet players, and Gregg’s performance will be a wonderful celebration of this lineage.”

Stafford, a master trumpeter with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, first began playing the trumpet in his high school’s marching band and eventually landed a spot with the legendary banjoist Danny Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church Band. Stafford later played with the Olympia Brass Band and the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, the latter of which he has led for more than 30 years.

“We are very excited to share New Orleans traditional jazz with our students, our jazz festival participants and area audiences through the assistance of the Connie and Elaine Jones Endowment in Traditional Jazz,” Towell said. He noted that the concert kicks off Loyola’s 55th Annual Jazz Ensemble Festival, which continues through March 15.

Phyllis Jones Conces, Connie and Elaine’s daughter, gifted the University with an endowment to host a traditional jazz concert series. The endowment also funded renovations to the college’s band room, and a hallway with mementos dedicated to Jones’s life and other artifacts honoring jazz greats with Loyola ties. The endowment also funds an adjunct professor to teach a traditional jazz combo each semester.

"It's such an honor to be in our second-year running with the Connie and Elaine Jones 6363 St. Charles Avenue, Campus Box 8, New Orleans, LA 70118, 504.865.3037, loyno.edu/cmm concert series,” said Kate Duncan, director of the college’s School of Music and Theatre

Professions and the Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Music Industry. “Last year's inaugural concert was a completely packed house, and it was a true delight to see everyone celebrating the music that started right here in our city, played by lifelong musical masters.”

Tickets to concert are $20 for the general public; $15 for senior citizens, and Loyola faculty and staff members; $8 for non-Loyola students; and, free for Loyola students. Please use this link to purchase tickets.