The Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra

The Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra, an auditioned 17 piece jazz ensemble, is the premiere jazz ensemble of The University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. Directed by Dr. Jack Cooper, Southern Comfort performs a wide range of styles from composers Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington to modern composers such as Jim McNeely and Bob Brookmeyer. 

The ensemble performs regularly across the University campus and throughout the Memphis community, and headlines the Memphis Jazz Festival every year.  The group continually performs and records new student compositions, commissions, and new works from outside composers on an annual basis. Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra also has two CDs "Voices" and "Out of the Bluffs" available from Select-O-Hits, Memphis.

Past performances have included a tour of Europe and presentations at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference, and the Tennessee Music Educators Association convention. Most recently the group was honored to be a part of the National Endowment of the Humanities "Looking at Jazz" series held in the Mid-South. 

Southern Comfort is open to undergraduates through doctoral candidates based on a successful audition. 

Contact:
Dr. Jack Cooper
Professor of Jazz Studies
jcooper1@memphis.edu