The society's annual meeting in November features a keynote speaker or a performance by a musician from the world of jazz. In April, CJS hosts a Spring Forward Preview for members to announce its plans for the annual jazz festival which takes place on the second weekend of July. Festival 2001 pays a centennial tribute to Louis Armstrong, master trumpeter, jazz singer and bandleader with two celebrations in two different settings. Robert Jospe and Inner Rhythm will play at Cafe Jazz in the ballroom of the Sheraton Atlantic Beach on July 13 and The North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra will perform a concert set in honor of Armstrong, followed by a Big Band Calvacade on July 14 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center. See our Annual Events chapter for more information.
Several members are retired professional musicians, and others are talented amateurs.
The society rehearses each Tuesday in the band room at Swansboro High School. The group welcomes new members. Between September and June, each month brings a concert to the Crystal Coast for the Folk Concert and Dance Series. Organized and sponsored by the Down East FolkArts Society, concerts and C ontra dances occur at Clawson's 1905 on Front Street in Beaufort, the Duke University Marine Lab auditorium on Pivers Island and Beaufort Elementary School. Instruction in New England Contra dancing, which requires no partner and has no age limits, precedes the dances.