Legacy Jazz Experience

Hello music fans,

My name is Julian MacDonough. I am a professional jazz drummer and educator in Bellingham Washington, and I am launching my new 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, the Legacy Jazz Experience on September 7th at MakeWorth Market in downtown Bellingham, but we need your help to get it off the ground! Our aim is to bring rehearsed, curated, high level jazz to ALL AGES in our small town every Tuesday night, featuring our house band of Thomas Harris on saxophone, Blake Angelos on piano, Mark Hunter on bass and myself on the drums. We will also be hosting some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world to join in with us, including New York trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, Wynton Marsalis drummer Ali Jackson and many, many others. Past guests I've presented include, Jimmy Heath, Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Mike Stern, Marcus Printup, Terell Stafford, Harold Mabern, Steve Nelson, Bill Stewart, Dr. Lonnie Smith and the list goes on and on.

For our first season, we will have reoccurring themes for half of the month. Every first Tuesday of the month will be: "Message Received- The Music of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers." The second Tuesday will feature organ based soul jazz from the 1960's and '70's. The remainder of the month will be themed concerts featuring music or artists whose contributions our band would like to explore on a deeper level, or ideas that might come from our audience.

Legacy Jazz Experience is also dedicated to education which is a subject I am very passionate about. Jazz combo classes will be offered to middle and high school students, taught by hand picked musicians chosen not just for their musical ability, but for their passion and talents for imparting musical concepts and their own real world experience, to the next generation. It is important to me that every student be approached with their particular learning styles in mind and that they gain confidence by truly understanding the concepts being taught and by feeling and hearing their own progress. My teaching methods have a proven track record of success and I am excited to begin this process again. Our house band will also make bi-monthly trips into the local schools to help teach and perform for the students, because the best way to get kids interested in this music, is to put it in front of them. 

Presenting the arts in this day and age is a constant uphill battle without the help of patrons. I would like to make these performances affordable to everyone, so that ANYONE who wants to come and listen, or take lessons with our educators, can do so without worry. This will only be possible with the financial help of generous donors.