The fifth annual Terry Dilley Symposium entitled “What is Jazz?” will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Gravity Storm Brewery (309 North Main Street) in Austin.

This event will feature a presentation with musical examples by noted musician, composer and educator Dr. John C. Paulson on the topic of defining jazz music and some of its forms. Dr. Paulson and his quartet will perform a live jazz set following his lecture.

Dr. Paulson, an Emeritus Professor at St. Mary’s University, has been a music educator and performer for more than 40 years and has performed around the area and around the world with numerous groups and worked as a freelance artist with The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Mel Torme, Andy Williams, Bob Hope, The Temptations, and Johnny Mathis.

He has produced seven commercial jazz CDs and two big band CDs of his original music: “The John Paulson Big Band Project” released in 2012 and “Five Years On” released in the fall of 2018. Dr. Paulson will also be the featured artist on an upcoming broadcast of KSMQ’s program, “Off 90.”

Dr. Paulson will appear with a quartet and provide musical illustrations of many of the concepts he discusses. This event is sponsored by the Terry Dilley Symposium, Inc., a nonprofit group dedicated to honoring the memory and legacy of Professor Terry Dilley.

The event is free and refreshments will be served.