“Fresh Takes on Jazz” is a unique concert series that showcases gifted professional musicians ages 20-35, especially women, and introduces students to live jazz.

Presented by the Lancaster-based nonprofit Music For Everyone and Mickey’s Black Box, an event venue at Rock Lititz, “Fresh Takes” is the only jazz series in southcentral PA ever to have this mission.

Started in 2023, the nonprofit series consists of four to five concerts each spring at Mickey’s.

Each show spotlights a band that performs mostly original compositions and/or arrangements and is new to Lancaster County audiences — hence the name of the series.

In addition, “Fresh Takes” emphasizes women musicians, as women are severely under-represented in jazz.

The series also features musicians from around the globe.

So far, musicians from Poland, Colombia, Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, Vietnam and, of course, the U.S. have stepped on Mickey’s stage for a “Fresh Takes” performance. 

All this innovative programming adds up to a rare opportunity for students. 

Students ages K through college are invited to attend the concerts, plus pre-concert rehearsals and post-concert receptions, where they can meet and mingle with the musicians — all for free.

Students also are invited to a free workshop, on a separate date, where they can hone their skills and meet peers who share their interest in jazz.

By nurturing jazz musicians in the early years of their careers (some of whom will become cornerstones of the genre) and by introducing students to live jazz (students who are future performers and audience members), “Fresh Takes” hopes to help, in some small way, make this American-made art form more sustainable.