The Denton Arts and Jazz Festival has earned a solid reputation for providing the finest in entertainment and art in the North Texas Metroplex area. Founded on the belief that all forms of art should be made available to the general public FREE OF CHARGE, the event has grown into one of the largest tourist attractions in North Texas and remains Denton’s signature event.

A tradition for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, the event continues to grow and attract local, regional, statewide and national attention made possible by the generous support of Festival Sponsors and Members!

Attraction

Denton Arts and Jazz Festival offers a variety of food, activities and exhibits for adults and children.

Children’s Art Area
Activities
Arts
Children’s Art Area
Activities
Food

Schedule

October 6, 2023

9:00 pm : Fly Naked - Jazz Stage

More than just the strong jaw and quotable voice of the titular 1987 RoboCop, Peter Weller studied music, drama, and English at the University of North Texas in the late ‘60s, where he was honored as a distinguished alumnus and a member of the Four O’Clock and Five O’Clock lab bands.

In addition to holding a master’s degree in Italian Renaissance art history and a doctorate in 15th-century intellectual and art history, being a published writer as well as a respected director of film and television, Weller is a jazz man.

Weller sings and plays trumpet in the bebop quintet Fly Naked, which he founded in 1998. The group features well-accomplished and award-winning talents such as pianist-singer Rick “Ricky Dee” DePiro, bassist Ryan Cross, saxophonist James King, and drummer Donald Barrett. From Grammy recognition and impressive collaborations with the likes of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Elton John, these instrumentalists are a whirlwind of creative sounds and beats — or, as Weller would say about them, they’re “four high-end jazzers making an aging hipster actor from North Texas look good!”

October 7, 2023

9:00 pm : Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band - Jazz Stage
 
In true Texas fashion,?four-time Grammy-winner Jimmie Vaughan has helped breathe new life into the music that has been his lifeline all these decades, becoming a hero to those who cherish America’s real gift to musical history. ?

?“When I talk about country and blues, they’re the same thing”, Jimmie Vaughan says. “Muddy Waters and Hank Williams, Webb Pierce and Jimmy Reed. When I was a kid, I didn’t understand the difference. Everybody was always asking me, ‘Why do you want to play blues? Why don’t you play country?’ But I would listen to the country guys and they would be doing a Jimmy Reed song. They’re playing the same lick. And Ray Charles, Little Milton, Guitar Junior, Lonnie Brooks, B.B. King–they all did country songs. Is Bob Wills country blues or jazz? And the answer is, it’s American music. I’m tired of trying to pigeonhole everything. I want to bring it together; it comes from the same place.”??

As a young teenager in Oak Cliff, Texas, his father told him to take guitar lessons if he wanted to really learn the instrument. But when Vaughan’s teacher told the guitar student it wasn’t going to work because the student “was too far gone” to learn from the lesson books, Vaughan knew he was on his own. Which was perfect for him, because the blues would be his teacher for life. For those who find themselves living inside this true American music, it becomes a way of life, and a musical force to follow forever.??

Jimmie Vaughan became possessed by his instrument while listening to the blues on the Black radio station in Dallas, and it has been that way ever since. When something this strong takes over, there is no way out—the pursuit just keeps going deeper.Jimmie Vaughan has been playing the blues he hears in his head and feels in his heart for over a half-century.?

When he first heard songs like Phil Upchurch’s “You Can’t Sit Down,” The Nightcaps’ “Wine,Wine, Wine” and B.B. King’s many hit songs in the early 1960s, he knew he had found his music. And ever since then, it’s been a constant quest to play the blues, whether it was in early 1970s Austin bands like Storm and then the Fabulous Thunderbirds, or later with brother Stevie Ray Vaughan on their FAMILY STYLE album, and on his own releases throughout the 1990s and in 2001.??

Then the solo albums stopped, until in 2010, Vaughan had an idea to start recording The Great American Blues Songbook. He assembled the kind of band most musicians can only dream about, and began recording his dream set list at Top Hat and Wire Studios in Austin.Never one to back down from a great idea, in 2011 Vaughan and band went back into the same studio and recorded a second collection of some of his favorite songs, zeroing in on that music’s ability to light a fuse wherever it was heard.

Last fall, to help celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the first of the BLUES, BALLADS AND FAVOURITES albums, THE PLEASURE’S ALL MINE compiled both albums as a collection,?and was released alongside a Vinyl reissue of 2016’s JIMMIE VAUGHAN TRIO featuring Mike Flanigin LIVE AT C-BOY’S release, which featured songs recorded at the venerable Austin nightspot that Vaughan and crew call home when they are in town. ??

In 2019, his newest release, BABY, PLEASE COME HOME brought him back into the spotlight with yet another Grammy nomination, and a Blues Foundation Award for Best Male Artist.

October 8, 2023

7:00 pm : Brave Combo - Jazz Stage

Trying to describe Brave Combo’s music requires a pretty extensive vocabulary – at least when it comes to musical styles. For the past three decades, the Denton-TX-based quintet has perfected a world music mix that includes salsa, meringue, rock, cumbia, conjunto, polka, zydeco, classical, cha cha, the blues, and more. They are America’s Premier Dance band and a rollicking, rocking, rhythmic global journey — offering what one critic recently wrote, “Even if you come for the party, you’ll leave with something of a musical education.”

Brave Combo’s catalog of recordings ranges from Japanese pop to Latin American dance tunes to orchestral classics to rock and roll at its finest. The band has recorded with the late Tiny Tim and was David Byrne’s choice for his wedding reception. From festivals and fairs across the globe, big and small rock clubs, colleges, roadhouses, dances, and cultural centers (including the annual Midsummer Night’s Swing at Lincoln Center in New York City), Brave Combo has charmed countless listeners and won avid devotees. The band won two Grammy Awards and has been nominated for their work seven times.

Brave Combo’s vivid music can be heard in the films David Byrne’s True Stories, Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions, Late Bloomers, Fools Rush In, Envy, and The Academy Award-winning The Personals. They appeared at Oktoberfest in the beloved American burg of Springfield on an episode of The Simpsons. In 2008, Brave Combo provided the musical score for PBS’s first-ever animated series, As the Wrench Turns, which resulted in an “Annie” nomination from the International Animated Film Society. Their music has also been featured on ABC’s hit series Ugly Betty and Fox Television’s Bakersfield P.D. They have also contributed original music for ESPN and The Big Ten network.

Brave Combo has performed at the Denton Arts and Jazz Festival every year since it began, and they will close the event

Date : October 6 - 8, 2023

Time :

October 6, 2023, 3:00 pm - 11:00 pm
October 7, 2023, 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
October 8,  2023, 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

Location : Denton’s Quakertown Park and Facilities - 321 East McKinney (Corner of McKinney and Bell) , Denton, Texas 76201

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