When UNC Asheville's jazz faculty takes the stage alongside their acclaimed XTET ensemble, the line between teaching and performing dissolves into pure musical conversation. This isn't just a showcase—it's a masterclass in motion, where the same minds shaping the next generation of jazz musicians demonstrate exactly why Asheville has become a hotbed for creative improvisation and sophisticated composition.

The XTET represents the cutting edge of the university's jazz program, a flexible ensemble that expands and contracts like a living organism, adapting its instrumentation to serve the music rather than conform to traditional jazz configurations. When the faculty joins them—bringing decades of professional experience from international tours, recording sessions, and collaborations with jazz legends—the result is an intergenerational dialogue where academic rigor meets street-level soul.

Expect original compositions that push harmonic boundaries, reimagined standards that reveal hidden depths, and the kind of fearless improvisation that only happens when world-class educators remember that the best teaching happens through example. These aren't professors playing at being musicians—they're working artists who happen to spend their days passing on the knowledge they've earned through thousands of gigs, countless recording sessions, and a deep commitment to advancing the art form.

At Little Jumbo Bar, where every note matters and authenticity is the only currency that spends, UNCA's jazz program proves that the most exciting music happens when those who can, do—and teach others to do the same.