Silk Jazz Festival

The Silk Festival will honor Knoxville’s star in the jazz firmament, keyboardist and bassist Donald Brown, using his longtime nickname, which describes both the sound of his music and his favorite suit fabric. The internationally respected recording artist is originally from Memphis and has lived in Knoxville for more than three decades while teaching at UT’s jazz program.

An 11 a.m. panel discussion of jazz in Knoxville will feature Brown, musician/announcer Todd Steed, jazz guitarist Ben Hall and Jack Neely of the Knoxville History Project. The Silk Jazz Festival is a program of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, a 501(c)3 nonprofit promoting jazz in East Tennessee through public performance and education outreach since 1999.