Enjoy the best jazz music Louisville has to offer at Todd Hildreth's annual Autumnal Jazz Fest!  This year's festival offers six bands and two stages (one outdoor/one indoor) guaranteeing continuous music throughout the day.  Food and beverages provided by Frickled Pickle Express, Spotz Gelato, Mile Wide Brewery, and Brooks Hill Winery.  Bring your lawn chair or blanket for outdoor seating.

Featuring

8PM - 9PM: Tribute To Ron Hayden 

Ron Hayden was a revered and beloved guitarist and composer who made waves in the Louisville scene through the 90s and early 2000s. His compositions were funky, sophisticated and deeply personal, and many musicians in the local scene were fond of playing with him, hanging with him and listening to him play. 

The last few years in Ron's life were very difficult, and filled with great misfortune and health issues. He was unable to play music during this time and it was our loss. Tonight's performance will feature a number of folks who played with Ron or grew up listening to him and that came influenced by him. There will be time to offer testimonies in his memory as well.

7PM - 8PM: The Groove Tubers

The Groove Tubers explore the relationship between jazz and TV themes.  Todd Hildreth, its founder, noticed how many TV themes were actually written by Jazz composers or composers with experience in jazz (Lalo Scrifin, Quincy Jones, Neal Hefti, Bob James, etc.) and realized there was a rich repertoire to be exploited in a jazz context. 

The Groove Tubers are Todd Hildreth on keyboards and steel drum, Isaac Stephens on brass and woodwinds, Clay Moore on guitar, Lee Puckett on bass, and Terry O'mahoney on drums.

6PM - 7PM: Derby City Dandies

The Derby City Dandies perform classic, obscure and bawdy  songs from Prohibition to Swing Jazz and beyond. Their energetic dance rhythms and old school vibe take you back to another era.

5PM - 6PM: 502 Vintage Keys

502 Vintage Keys is a Louisville-based jazz fusion group rooted in the sound of 1970s electric jazz. Drawing inspiration from the golden era of Hammond organs, Rhodes pianos, Wurlitzers, and Clavinets, the band delivers a groove-rich blend of vintage tones and modern improvisation.

Led by renowned bassist Tyrone Wheeler— recognized as one of the leading acoustic and electric bassists in the region—the group features a lineup of top-tier musicians: Hunt Butler on saxophones and flute, Diego Lyra on vintage keys, and Ted Richardson on drums. Each member brings deep experience and a distinctive voice to the ensemble.

502 Vintage Keys explores a wide range of styles, with a strong focus on contemporary jazz and fusion.

4PM - 5PM: Johnny Wagner and Friends

Johnny Wagner (15) is a saxophonist, oboist, and composer. He is a sophomore at YPAS and began playing saxophone at age 11. In 2024 he was awarded the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and will perform in a jazz quintet with Noah Sparks (16, tenor saxophone), Mihira Tangelloju (14, piano), and Craig Wagner (bass).

3PM - 4PM: Chomsky Jazz

Chomsky Jazz is a group comprised mainly of Louisville‘s finest up-and-coming graduates of UoL and Bellarmine jazz depts. They play acoustic straight-ahead jazz in the style of the mid-60s blue note era. Founder of the band, drummer Dean Thomas, played with the Jazz Lions of Los Angeles, Washington DC, and New York City before returning to his hometown of Louisville.

Tickets:
$20
(Kids 10 & Under Free)

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