When Dave Sharp, bassist, bandleader, A2 Jazz Fest founder and artistic director at Ann Arbor’s Blue LLama Jazz Club, first thought of putting on a jazz festival, he was just trying to solve a problem: the jazz music program at the Ann Arbor Music Center (AAMC), was really starting to grow in popularity. With teachers like Dave and his colleagues, Detroit-based drummer, Gayelynn McKinney, and Ann Arbor-based saxophonist, Paul Vornhagen added to an already all-star popular music slate that included Theo Katzman (former Vulfpek frontman), Ann Arbor’s only Rock Band School—now with Jazz - was bursting at the seams.