Comments on: Goodbye, DE Jazz Fest; Hello, DC Jazz Fest

By: Roy Hargrove Takes U Street by Surprise! - Arts Desk - Washington City Paper

Roy Hargrove Takes U Street by Surprise! - Arts Desk - Washington City Paper — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:38:49 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: punkyjunk

punkyjunk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:56:55 +0000

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.

By: Mike Licht

Mike Licht — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:33:24 +0000

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?

By: Jamaica Knauer

Jamaica Knauer — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:07:41 +0000

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.