Jacksonville Jazz Festival

The Jacksonville Jazz Festival is a weekend of Jazz that is the second largest jazz festival in the nation [ [http://www.superpages.com/cities/Jacksonville-FL.html Superpages City Guide] ] and experts have called one of the 20 best in the nation. [ [http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040805/met_18426894.shtml Florida Times-Union: Apr 8, 2005 "City pays into red for jazz fest"] ] The April event in Jacksonville, Florida, USA is sponsored by the city, and the entertainment events take place at Metropolitan Park.

Festival events

The festival includes The Great American Jazz Piano competition which takes place at the Florida Theatre on Friday evening of the festival weekend. The winner plays a featured set at Metropolitan Park. "Art at the Met" is a popular area in Metropolitan Park where patrons can enjoy listening to jazz performers while browsing the work of prize-winning artisans and master craftspeople from around the nation. Art mediums can include: Clay, Digital, Drawing, Fiber, Furniture, Glass, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Painting, Sculpture and Wood. The wine tasting event titled "38° Latitude: A Wine Tasting Experience" is another favorite pastime at the festival. Patrons may purchase a "Tasting Ticket" for entry to this special experience and receive a souvenir wine glass and eight samplings of more than 50 featured wines. Winery representatives were also on-hand to discuss various vintages. Bottles of wine may be purchased for consumption within Metropolitan Park. [ [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/030406/met_21263370.shtml Florida Times-Union: Mar 4, 2006 "Jazz Festival returns, this time at a cost"] ] Food & drink, arts & crafts, souvenirs & music are available for purchase from vendors within the park, and Sunday Jazz Brunch is available in Metropolitan Park, typically from 11:00am to 1:00pm. When the performers for the upcoming festival are announced, there is also an induction ceremony for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival Hall of Fame to honor people who have made a positive impact on jazz in Jacksonville. An official poster is created each year for the festival. They are colorful and have become very collectible.

Past performers

Over the years every almost every big name in the jazz world has played here. Legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Diane Schuur, Patti Austin, Branford Marsalis, Count Basie Orchestra, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Diana Krall, Herbie Hancock, Ramsey Lewis Trio, Chuck Mangione, Chris Botti, Rippingtons, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, David Sanborn, Pamela Williams, Spyro Gyra, Dianne Reeves, Chick Corea, David Benoit, Boney James, Karrin Allyson, Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G, Harry Connick, Jr. and Greg Adams, to name a few. [ [http://www.smoothviews.com/concertreviews/jaxjazz0507.htm Smooth Views Concert Reviews] ]

History

In 1980, Jake Godbold was elected Mayor of Jacksonville. He and aide Mike Tolbert founded the jazz festival and envisioned it as an event that would change people’s attitudes about Jacksonville. It began as a one-day free concert featuring regional talent and a major headliner at Mayport. The producers expected a few hundred people to show up, but a crowd of several thousand turned out. The following year, attendance was even higher and Mayport could not handle the crowds, so the event moved to the newly opened Metropolitan Park in 1982. Costs were low (Dizzy Gillespie headlined the 1981 show for just $7,500) and sponsors were willing to support it, so it remained a free show.

The production was turned over to public television station WJCT in 1985 and they used it as their primary fund-raising event for many years. In the mid 80’s, big name entertainers started raising the rates they charged to perform. The 1986 festival featured Miles Davis for approximately $25,000, more than three times the cost of the headliner five years earlier. Costs began to rise faster than sponsorship money, so the show in 1995 included a $5 admission to help cover the shortfall. There was minor grumbling, but $5 tickets were still a bargain. Vic DiGenti, who produced the event from 1993 to 2000 stated, "We probably lost some of those people who just want to come and hang out and drink beer." In the late 1990’s attendance had risen to 20,000, but that wasn’t enough to cover shrinking sponsorships and inflated artists' contracts. After the show in 2000, WJCT announced their withdrawal of sponsorship, citing large losses, resulting in no festival in 2001 and 2002. [ [http://www.unf.edu/library/sc/jacksonvillejazzfestival.html University of North Florida Carpenter Library collection] ]

The City of Jacksonville resurrected the event in 2003, and named Tony Bennett as the headliner. However, Bennett was the most expensive act in Jazz Festival history. He was paid $100,000 for his 75-minute performance at Metropolitan Park, plus $10,000 for expenses. The festival in 2003 once again did not charge admission. It was a sunny weekend and nearly 60,000 people attended, but the festival's overall profits were half a million dollars short of its expenses. When it rained in 2004, attendance numbers fell to 22,000 and the festival lost another half million dollars. In 2006, the city decided to begin charging admission, but the deficit stayed around $500,000. The 2007-8 budget included significant cuts that required the Jazz Festival to be scaled back. Saturday and Sunday music will be limited to Metropolitan Park whereas in 2007, concerts were also held at the Florida and Ritz theaters. [ [http://jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=49178 Jax Daily Record: Jan 4, 2008 "City officials: ignore rumors, Jazz Fest will go on"] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.jaxjazzfest.com/ Official web page]
* [http://www.FirstCoastJazz.com/ First Coast Jazz - Florida's Smooth Jazz Connection]