Goodbye, DE Jazz Fest; Hello, DC Jazz Fest
You once knew it as the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. For all of its five years, in fact. No more.
Festival boss Charlie Fishman reports that there’s been a dispute with the Ellington family over the rights to use the name of District jazz’s favorite son. Henceforth, then, it shall be known as the DC Jazz Festival, and shall be accorded all rights and privileges commensurate with that name.
It is notable, however, that festivals with the names of famous musicians attached have tended to be second-tier festivals, held in fifth-tier cities. Who, after all, could forget the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho; the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington, Delaware; or the headline-grabbing Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in bustling Davenport, Iowa?
By contrast, the big-time fests — Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Portland Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — are all named after the cities that host them.
So let’s call this name change a promotion, shall we?
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Linked From: October 5th, 2009Roy Hargrove Takes U Street by Surprise! - Arts Desk - Washington City Paper
3:38 pm[...] Blues Alley and playing a headline engagement during 2007’s Duke Ellington Jazz Festival (now the D.C. Jazz Festival). Sunday night, however, he took a surprise detour from his four-night stand at Blues Alley to hit [...]
6:07 am
Considering the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival has been playing to a crowd of thousands, that travels, not only from all over the United States, but from all over the world, for the last 37 years, I’d say it’s doing okay for a “second-tier festival.” If it’s not to be named after Bix, it simply shouldn’t exist. Sadly, it’s one of the few public acknowledgements of his genius.
11:33 pm
Speaking of promotion, there are the corporate name jazz festivals, like the JVC Jazz Festival and Kool Jazz Festival. Are DC Jazz Festival “naming rights” up for sale?
12:56 pm
I think festival organizers [anywhere] will be hard-pressed these days to find a corporate entity who will spend their precious sponsorship dollars on a jazz event. JVC didn’t even happen this year.
The Chicago Jazz Festival probably had one of the most impressive lineups in recent years. New Orleans’ event, while a big draw, doesn’t typically have a jazz artist billed as a main headline act…but such is the name of the game when trying to sell tickets.
Regardless, you’ve made an excellent point. I would consider this a “promotion” as well.