 Produced by the UDC Jazz Studies Program and the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives, the festival began in 1987 as part of a citywide tribute to Duke Ellington and was originally called the University BIG BAND Jazz Festival.In 2004 the official name of the festival was changed to the "Calvin Jones BIG BAND Jazz Festival," in memory of Calvin Jones, director of UDC's Jazz Studies program and a legendary figure in the Washington, D.C. community.In subsequent years the festival has been organized as "A Tribute to Count Basie" (1988); "A Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area" (1991); "A Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie and Dr. George Ross" (1993) ; and "A Tribute to Felix Grant" (1994).