Keeping Jazz Alive in the Ozarks

The Missouri Jazz Orchestra (MOJO) is enriching, educating and growing the Ozarks jazz community through performance and advocacy. Since 2009, MOJO has been bringing the jazz vibe to locations across the Ozarks every first and third Tuesday of the month. They focus mainly on the music of the big band era including Count Basie, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich and Sammy Nestico and the more modern jazz ensembles of Bob Mintzer, Bob Brookmeyer, Maria Schneider and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. They also perform original compositions and arrangements from members of MOJO. “Music is the universal language,” says Randall Hamm, executive director of MOJO. “Our audience, seeing a large jazz ensemble with the quality and power of the Missouri Jazz Orchestra, and the orchestra members regularly performing for a live audience, have developed a deep connection.”

Hamm is passionate about showing how music shapes and enriches daily life. “Music and music education are paramount,” he says. “After 33 years as Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Missouri State University, I have witnessed the power of music education and music in the daily lives of our citizens.”