Hitting All the Right Notes

With After Hours Jazz, six accomplished musicians bring improvisation, artistry and timeless standards to audiences across Brunswick County.

The opening notes of “The Girl From Ipanema” drifted through Sunset River Gallery, and within moments the audience was hooked. For the next two hours, After Hours Jazz transformed the Calabash gallery into an intimate jazz club, moving effortlessly from beloved standards to inventive improvisation before closing with Bryan Hughes’ spirited rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon.”

More than 100 people attended the performance, drawn by a band that does far more than simply play familiar songs. Made up of veteran performers, educators, composers and lifelong musicians, After Hours Jazz blends technical excellence with the easy camaraderie that makes live jazz so engaging.

“Our mission from the beginning was to get this type of music out there,” says saxophonist Jeff Norris of Sunset Beach, the group’s leader. “Few locations play the Great American Songbook or contemporary jazz.”

That commitment has helped the six-member ensemble build a devoted following throughout the South Brunswick Islands. Through performances at Sunset River Gallery, Jazz in the Park at Sunset Beach Town Park and Jazz Under the Stars at Ingram Planetarium, the group introduces audiences to jazz standards while showcasing the spontaneity and interaction that make the genre unique.

Hughes, wearing white framed glasses, is the perfect frontman. He indicates with sweeping gestures which musician has the stage, engages the audience with a humorous lesson on applauding and urges them to “hoot and holler.” To introduce the hit song “The In Crowd,” he says, “You being here are part of the in crowd.”

“Route 66,” “Bésame Mucho,” “Comin’ Home, Baby!” and “Have you Met Miss Jones?” are some of the songs the band plays, and Hughes even sings scat to songs like “The Masquerade.”

Ciprian Garcia, an original member of the group along with Mark St. Claire and Jim Pope, says he suggested the name in 2017 because jazz is usually associated with after hours.

Norris joined the group in 2019 and initiated the shows at Sunset River Gallery, instituted Jazz in the Park at Sunset Beach Town Park and Jazz Under the Stars at Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach.

“I try to focus on creating different opportunities for us,” Norris says. “We go out and have fun playing music because that’s what it’s all about.”

“We mostly are playing to a listening audience rather than at a bar,” adds Dave Maffris of Calabash, who joined the group in 2025 and plays keyboard. “People are there to listen and enjoy the music. The other musicians are excellent and play the kind of music I enjoy. We listen to each other and interact with each other. We have a common language.”

Maffris began playing professionally at 15 years old and was a clinical social worker for more than 20 years. He plays in other bands, composes and has a recording business. His website is daveintheshed.com.

Guitarist Wayne Cockfield of Myrtle Beach, who joined After Hours Jazz 18 months ago after several appearances as a guest guitarist, says his entire career has centered on music. He played gigs as a 13-year-old in Lake City, South Carolina, and in the Charleston area until he was 23. He then entered the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles and later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Coastal Carolina University.

“Jazz is best played with other musicians you can interact with,” Cockfield says. “It’s an enjoyable experience to hear what they play, and it inspires you to play something that goes along with it. That’s what’s nice about jazz. It’s structured and not structured.”

Cockfield teaches music and entertains in Myrtle Beach. His website is waynecockfield.com.

Bass player Bill Selway drives from his home in Annapolis, Maryland, for the performances.

“It’s been a fun ride,” he says. “Every gig has a few tunes new to us. We have a good idea of what tempo, key and style we want to play, and we talk through anything new. We can make things work.”

A retired high school music teacher, he spends part of his time in Sunset Beach and was invited to be a guest bassist before he joined After Hours Jazz in 2022. When Hughes said they would play a song for all of the Valentines, Selway interjected humor by suggesting they play a song for Presidents’ Day.

Drummer Cliff Hackford of Myrtle Beach, who taps out the tempo for the group before they play each song, is a three-year member and says he joined “because I like to play jazz and the gigs are fun.”

He says the other members are open and receptive if he wants a song included.

“I love the variety of different styles like Latin and African,” says Hackford, who retired from teaching music lessons and now plays in seven jazz groups. “I work a lot, and I like doing it.” His website is cliffhackford.com.

Hughes, who lives in the Holden Beach area, was invited to be guest vocalist before becoming the lead singer in 2021. He calls himself a “baritenor” because he sings tenor and baritone. A former show choir director in Indiana for 14 years, he is author of six novels, two short story collections, a memoir and a children’s book. His website is bryanmichaelhughes.com.

“I like the quality of the musicians that I get to be with,” he says. “We have connections as musicians so that it’s like it’s our own language.”

The musicians project emotion, and the audience responds with nodding, mouthing words and tapping toes. Frank and Ann Beisemann of Ocean Isle Beach, who sit up front, are two of them.

“We come all the time because we like the music, the small venue and the artwork,” Ann says. “And the wine,” Frank adds, which is complimentary from the gallery the night of the performances.

“I come as often as I can,” says Charlene Hawryluk of Carolina Shores. “I love music. I love jazz.”

Norris, who retired from his job as a project executive for a construction company, played about 130 gigs a year for 30 years with a band in Philadelphia. He says After Hours Jazz is good for him because it keeps him motivated.

“When I play music with this band, it’s probably the most cohesive set of musicians we’ve had that all come together without much effort,” Norris says. “We don’t practice much because there’s a communality in the music, and everybody knows the songs.”

That connection is what audience members hear when the band takes the stage.

“They are inventive,” says Ann Klein of Little River. “It’s true jazz. It includes improvisation, and that’s what they do.”

ALL THAT JAZZ
For information about booking After Hours Jazz or catching them around town, email Jeff Norris: jeff.norris431@gmail.com.