Indy Jazz Fest

Indy Jazz Fest

The Indy Jazz Fest in Indianapolis, Indiana, first took place from June 17-20, 1999. It was created by a consortium of Downtown hospitality, civic and business interests as a way to spotlight Indianapolis' jazz heritage through an annual event. The hope was to have a tourist weekend event that was arts-related, as opposed to the major famous auto racing events held each year in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the US Grand Prix.

A planning committee was formed by these business interests, and it was led by local event planner Maribeth Smith & Associates. As planning progressed a director was appointed who ran the day-to-day operations and booked all the talent for the event. It was determined the event would be a multi-day, multi-venue festival, culminating in a multi-stage outdoor event called the Bank One Jazz & Roots Fair at Downtown Indianapolis' White River State Park. A $2 million budget was used to stage the event, which included artists such as BB King, Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Sonny Rollins, Los Lobos, Robert Cray, Branford Marsalis, George Benson, Chris Isaak, Freddie Hubbard and many others. A spotlight on local jazz legends was called Indiana Avenue Revisited, including Slide Hampton, David Baker, Buddy Montgomery, Jimmy Coe, and many others.

According to the Indy Jazz Fest [http://www.indyjazzfest.net/history.html] website and numerous published reports, the inaugural event attracted over 55,000 people, including attendees from 35 states and seven countries.

Indy Jazz Fest became a 501(c)(3) organization and began formulating and implementing educational outreach initiatives throughout Indianapolis Public Schools leading up to the second-annual festival. Children from all walks of life were exposed to jazz and other musical genres because of Indy Jazz Fest's work in the community. The second festival saw names like Al Green, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Booker T and the MG's, Jonny Lang, Shemekia Copeland, The Yellowjackets, Cassandra Wilson, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and many more. The festival did have to cancel the first night due to an unseasonable downpour, and heavy rains off and on throughout the weekend caused a $750,000 budget shortfall and the organization accumulated a large amount of debt as a result.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jazz Kitchen — The Jazz Kitchen Das Jazz Kitchen ist ein seit 1994 bestehender Jazzclub mit Restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana. Der Club wurde im Jahr 1994 im früheren Veranstaltungslokal The Place to Start an der Ecke 54th Street und College Avenue eröffnet;… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of jazz festivals — This is a list of notable jazz music festivals, broken down geographically. The festivals mentioned here should have at least some international recognition.*Morocco* Tanjazz Asia Malaysia*Miri International Jazz Festival, Malaysia… …   Wikipedia

  • Rob Dixon — (* im 20. Jahrhundert in Atlanta) ist ein US amerikanischer Jazz Saxophonist und Musikproduzent. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben und Schaffen 2 Diskographische Anmerkungen 3 Weblinks 4 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Indianapolis — This article is about the capital of Indiana. For other uses, see Indianapolis (disambiguation). Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis taken from Crown Hill, with the Chase Tower in the center …   Wikipedia

  • Owl Studios — Type Independent Genre Jazz, R B, Jam Founded 2005 Founder(s) J. Allan Hall …   Wikipedia

  • Yellowjackets — For other uses, see Yellowjacket (disambiguation). Yellowjackets Origin Los Angeles, California, California, United States Genres Jazz fusion,[1] smooth jazz …   Wikipedia

  • Jesse Green — For the reggae musician, see Jesse Green (reggae musician). Jesse Green Born 1971 United States Spouse Kristine Green Parents Urbie Green, Kathy Preston Jesse Green (born in 1971) is an American professional jazz pianist, composer, arranger …   Wikipedia

  • Frank Glover — (* 27. Juni 1963 in Indianapolis) ist ein US amerikanischer Jazz Musiker (Klarinette, Saxophon) und Komponist. Biografie Frank Glover gehört seit den 1980er Jahren zur Jazzszene seiner Heimatstadt und wurde für seine Verdienste 1996 mit dem Jazz… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of attractions and events in Indianapolis — Annual events*Allstate 400 at the Brickyard *Coca Cola Circle City Classic *Gen Con *Heartland Film Festival *InConJunction *Indiana Black Expo *Indiana Flower and Patio Show *Indiana State Fair *Indianapolis 500 *Indianapolis International Film… …   Wikipedia

  • Harold Jones — Harold J. Jones (* 27. Februar 1940 in Richmond (Indiana)) ist ein US amerikanischer Jazz Schlagzeuger. Leben und Wirken Jones besuchte die Richmond High School und kam im Alter von vierzehn Jahren zum Schlagzeug. Er spielte ab 1956 in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”