The Jazz Ensemble performs music from a wide variety of styles and eras within the jazz idiom.  This standard 18-piece jazz ensemble performs the classics of the "Swing Era" including music written for the jazz orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The ensemble also performs classics of the 1970s and ‘80s, including the music of Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones, Buddy Rich and Toshiko Akiyoshi.  No stranger to the contemporary sounds of today, the ensemble frequently performs works by Bob Mintzer, Pat LaBarbera, John Fedchock, Michael Abene, Quincy Jones and other contemporary artists.

The technical and musical skills of ensemble members allow for performances of the same professional arrangements that are heard on recordings by the Buddy Rich Orchestra, the GRP All-Star Big Band and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Band.

Those skills have also been recognized off-campus as well.  For the past three years, the Lee University Jazz Ensemble and two smaller groups selected from large ensemble have received superior ratings (Gold) at the IAJE-sponsored Jazzweek Festival at the University of Louisville.  Several members have also received "Outstanding Soloist" and scholarship awards for their achievements in performance and improvisation.  During the seven-year tenure of director Alan Wyatt, the group has released two recordings of its work; a third is scheduled for release soon.