Why Silk?
Silk Jazz Festival is named after Jazz Messenger and former UT Jazz Piano Professor Donald “Silk” Brown.
Born in Memphis TN, Donald began playing music locally before becoming a member of the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in 1981. He has been faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston and later at University of Tennessee until his retirement in 2020. His music is celebrated all over the world and has won multiple Grammys and awards.
In 2025, three friends (two of them former students of Donald), imagined a jazz festival that would bring together local performers, young rising talent and internationally acclaimed artists.
Determined to make this dream a reality, they thought about a name that would embody all of these values and Donald “Silk” Brown is the living representation of an artist that is together international, local and a mentor to many generations of young talents all around the world.
Learn more about Donald “Silk” Brown:
https://www.jazztimes.com/features/profiles/donald-brown-an-underrecognized-mind/?v=0b3b97fa6688
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