Magic City Jazz Orchestra Lawler, trombonist Charlie Ard, saxophonist Neil McLean, arranger Steve Sample, Sr and pianist Ray Reach. SuperJazz has spawned a number of spin-off groups, such as the Night Flight Big Band and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. In 1998, Ray Reach, then director of the UAB Jazz Ensemble and founding director of the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, contacted New York saxophonist Lou Marini in order to hire him to be guest artist and clinician for the annual "Weekend of Jazz" festival at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Mr. Marini subsequently came to Birmingham, where he conducted jazz workshops and
Red Sea Jazz Festival Randy Brecker & Mark Egan, The Jazz Beatles, Miroslav Vitous & John Abercrombie and Charlie Haden & John Scofield. The festival draws audiences of 70,000, with an average of 2,500 people per concert. It is run as a non-profit organization and enjoys the support of the Municipality of Eilat, the Ministries of Culture and Tourism, the Eilat Hotel Association and various business sponsors. In 2008, Israeli jazz bassist Avishai Cohen was named artistic director, replacing Dan Gottfried, who initiated the festival and served as artistic director for 22 years. During his tenure Gottfried has showcased over 1500 world-famous Jazz artists