Sticky’z Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, a local restaurant and live music venue, hosted bands Conwave, High Ping, Jupiter’s Flytrap and Sonder Ponder, filling downtown Little Rock with electric jazz and indie funk.

The Central Arkansas Saxophone Summit organized the event to raise money for the UCA saxophone studio.

The organization’s vice president, senior music performance major Daniel Isaacs, said, “There’s lots of things that we have ideas for, but we don’t actually have any money right now that we can use to put toward that.”

Junior music education major Liberty Vasquez said the funds would make it possible for the studio to play more music, to afford better equipment, to publicize their work and to bring in more people.

“I think that’s an important thing,” Vasquez said.

Kicking off the show, Conwave, a local jazz ensemble founded in 2023 by Daniel Isaacs, hit the stage.

The group showcased smooth melodies that garnered audience applause.

Several in attendance expressed their appreciation and support for local music.

Vasquez said she came to support her friends and the saxophone studio. She believes events like these are important when building community.

“Stuff like this, it’s community one hundred percent. I don’t feel like there’s much around us now in the world that really brings people together like music, like the liveliness. It’s great,” Vasquez said.

Junior music major Preston Gibson said he attended because he knew everyone at the show and loved music.

“It’s good to have live music in Arkansas. It’s not very common, and we need more people to represent not only our music department but music in Arkansas and support local musicians,” Gibson said.

The next performance by High Ping – a video game music ensemble – wowed the crowd with jazz-infused soundtracks from popular media like “Deltarune” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.”

The band strives to combine jazz, rock and funk in a fun and nostalgic way.

Afterward, Jupiter’s Flytrap, a four-piece indie rock band based in central Arkansas, stunned the audience with vocals from lead singer Indi Minett.

Minett said she started the band in 2021 by hanging up “bandmates wanted” posters around Conway and hosting auditions.

Jupiter’s Flytrap is currently promoting their latest single “YOU ARE EVERYTHING” which is available on all streaming services.

Sonder Ponder was the last band to take the stage.

Founded by Blake Mancil, the group describes their music as “indie mellow rock.”

Junior vocal music education major Kyla Vlickenstaff expressed her admiration for the performers in connection with her own musical experience.

“I did choir all throughout high school and had a moment of realization, I guess, where I just decided that I couldn’t do anything else. I wouldn’t be happy or satisfied doing anything else,” Vlickenstaff said. “I think it’s great for these bands to get some publicity and to get their name out there because they’re all aspiring musicians and need to start somewhere.”

Updates on the UCA saxophone studio can be found on Instagram @ucasaxstudio.