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
TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival down. After this early prototype festival, the Edmonton Jazz Festival Society was formed in an effort to add some structure to the festival and avoid some of the financial and organizational pitfalls that Jazz City had faced. In 2006, the newly formed Edmonton Jazz Festival Society sought financial aid from the Edmonton Arts Council and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and partnered with the Jazz Society of the Yardbird Suite to co-host the next instalment of the festival. That year's festival saw the formation of The Edmonton Jazz Orchestra, which is a collection of 18 local musicians who compose,