Jefferson Center is not an organization to get lazy with its aspirations. This week, the Jeff is hosting its first ever Jazz Institute, led by guitarist Rodney Jones. The instructors and some students performed on Thursday at Blue 5 Restaurant.

Here, Jones’ protege and Jeff Center executive director Cyrus Pace joins with drummer Ocie Davis, sax man Chad Eby and bassist Joseph Dickey on a cover of Dr. Lonnie Smith’s “New Orleans.” Davis kicks it off with a killer rudimental solo. And Pace has not lost a bit of his musicality, despite his busy schedule managing the Jeff.

Eby and the young Dickey, a Roanoke Valley native now studying with Eby at UNC-Greensboro show some serious taste, chops and musicality. Davis, from Greensboro by way of New Orleans via Los Angeles, looks on with interest at Dickey’s solo late in the number.