2019 marks the 45th anniversary of the Pittsburg State University Jazz Festival taking place on Friday March 1st, 2019. Bob Kehle has been the organizer of the PSU Jazz Festival for 40 of the past 45 years. Kehle said that he has the festival grow from 15 or 16 jazz groups when he took over organizing it in the late 1970’s to over to 70-groups from throughout the Four States. He attributes that to an attention to detail, whether it be sending multiple email updates or providing each jazz group a PSU student as a guide that help them get to where they need to be on time during the festival. This years festival will be capped off by an evening performance of The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra which can trace their back to 1966 when they were known as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra.