Year after year, Dr. Dave Miller is finding it harder and harder to outdo himself when corralling the headlining act for the Alcorn State University Jazz Festival. The small festival has a miniscule budget for advertising and performance fees, but has nonetheless staged major jazz artists for nearly three decades. Last year’s festival featured two-time Grammy Award winning trumpeter Roy Hargrove at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

If you go

The 29th annual Alcorn State University Jazz Festival will be Saturday at the Vicksburg Convention Center. High school and college bands will perform at 9 a.m. An hour-long workshop with headlining musicians will take place at 4 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. show. Events are free.

For the 29th annual festival, Miller has used his connections in the jazz world to bring a once-in-a-lifetime event to Vicksburg. Five internationally acclaimed jazz musicians — all headlining acts in their own right — will perform as an all-star band to headline the festival Saturday.

“This is huge. It’s a historic event in the jazz world for these musicians to get together anywhere, let alone in Vicksburg,” said Miller. “They are really some of the best jazz musicians out there right now.”

With two Grammy Awards of her own, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will lead the all-star band. Master jazz pianist Geri Allen, drummer Terri Lyne Carringto, bassist Esperanza Spalding and 16-year-old saxophone player Grace Kelly round out the lineup. They will participate in a 4 p.m. workshop at the convention center before taking the stage around 8 p.m. The Mississippi Jazz Educators, featuring Miller, will open for the group, beginning at 7.

“It’s going to be a very, very interesting festival,” said Miller. “It’s really an honor that these musicians want to come together for a show like this, and we’re hoping a lot of people in Vicksburg will come out and take advantage of this exclusive opportunity.”

A total of 11 high school and college jazz bands will also perform at the convention center Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All of the concerts and the workshop are free.

Miller said selecting five women to perform in the all-star band was not intentional. Some of them have played the Alcorn Jazz Festival in years past, some have played together previously, but never have they all taken the stage as one band. Because most of the women reside in the Boston area, Miller said they will hold a few practice sessions before the Vicksburg show.

The band will likely play selections from each of the women’s varied solo albums. Kelly, who released four studio albums by the time she was able to get a driver’s license, has just released a fifth, titled “Mood Changes,” and “is turning the jazz world on it’s ear,” said Miller. Those who watched Stevie Wonder receive The Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize at the White House in February might recognize Spalding. Introduced as “the brightest young star on the jazz horizon,” she performed for President Barack Obama and his family, Wonder and others just before Tony Bennett took the stage. Spalding was a featured guest of the Joe Lovano Quartet at the 2007 Alcorn State University Jazz Festival, and has received rave reviews for her second album, “Esperanza,” released in 2008.

“Esperanza and Grace are going to be very big stars — I’m certain of that,” said Miller. “Dee Dee is a huge international vocalist. She’s one of the four biggest female vocalists out there. She reminds me of Ella Fitzgerald. All of these women are the best of the best.”

The Alcorn Jazz Festival had paired with Riverfest, which will take place in Vicksburg Friday and Saturday, for four years before the two cut ties last year.Shirley Waring, who serves on the jazz festival committee, said organizers will also focus this year on better educating attendees about the vast jazz history in Vicksburg — most notably the home of the late Milt Hinton, who according to The Jazz Discography appeared on 1,174 recordings and is the most-recorded jazz musician of all time.

*

Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com