The Savannah Music Festival recently released applications for the 9th annual Swing Central Jazz, a workshop and competition led by pianist Marcus Roberts during the festival. Set apart by a collective approach to big band jazz instruction, the workshop includes clinicians such as Wycliffe Gordon, Terell Stafford, Jason Marsalis, Rodney Whitaker and others working as teams with each of the twelve accepted bands. After two days of instruction and public performances, the bands compete in front of a panel of six judges at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts. That evening, the top three bands perform during a finale concert as openers for an original production curated by SMF (and including Roberts and a select group of clinicians).