In June, a jazz quartet from the Blair School of Music visited Colombia as part of the Centro Colombo Americano jazz collaboration program to perform, teach workshops and participate in jam sessions with Colombian musicians in the cities of Medellin, Manizales and Pereira.
Blair’s quartet—above, from left, rising senior David Rodgers on piano, rising sophomore Nic Townsend on alto sax and keyboards, rising senior Chase Coffey on trombone, and recent grad Jordan Nunnelee on drums—along with Ryan Middagh, director of jazz studies at Blair, were in Colombia from June 12 through June 26 under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy, along with a quartet from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Since 2007, the Centro Colombo Americano jazz collaboration program has promoted cross-cultural understanding and international dialog between U.S. and Colombian jazz artists.