The Tarleton Jazz Festival has had a long list of internationally recognized guest artists. Bringing guest artists to campus allows our students to interact and learn from world-class musicians and educators. Below is a list of previous guest artists:

1974 – Maynard Ferguson

1975 – Woody Herman

1979 – Jack Peterson

1992 – Chris Seiter, Kris Berg, and Kent Ellingson

1995 – Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau

1996 – Collection Jazz Orchestra

1997 – Tim Ishii and Bart Marantz

1998 – Kim Park and Rick Stitzel

1999 – Count Basie

2000 – John Fedchock

2001 – Thomas Shabda Noor

2002 – Gary Hobbs

2004 – Bertha Coolidge

2005 – Rufus Reid

2006 – Maria Schneider

2007 – David “Fathead” Newman

2008 – Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band

2009 – Sean Jones

2010 – Kathy Kosins

2011 – Bob Mintzer

2012 – Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society

2013 – Jeff Coffin

2014 – John Faddis

2015 – Wycliffe Gordon

2016 – Josh Hanlon and Friends (Stockton Helbing, Noel Johnston, James Driscoll, Ken Edwards, Justin Pierce)

2017 – Dave Pietro

2018 – Terell Stafford

2019 – Ari Hoenig

2021 (Virtual) – Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Sean Jones, Lynn Seaton

2022 – Tia Fuller

2023 – Sara Jacovino

2024 – Doug Stone