The Tucson Jazz Institute “Concord” Combo started Monday’s windy launch party on the Playground Bar & Lounge rooftop. The jazz band recently took first place in the High School Open Combo Division at this year’s Next Generation Jazz Festival, and recently crowdfunded $11,000 to embark on a 7-day tour through Europe. The unofficial host of the evening was local attorney Elliot Glicksman, and he couldn’t be more excited to announce the ambitious news. Glicksman is one of the many driving forces and sponsors in next year’s HSL Properties: Tucson Jazz Festival.
The Jazz Fest will be a 10-day celebration starting on Friday, Jan. 16, until Sunday, Jan. 25. There will be a free outdoor concert on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 19, tentatively located at the Mercado San Agustin. The intention is to bring thousands of people downtown, increase use of the streetcar and attract tourism during the winter season. “We are bringing some hot jazz under our winter sun,” Mayor Jonathan Rothschild said at the press conference.
The Fox Tucson Theatre, Rialto and Hotel Congress will be the primary locations for the predominantly downtown family event. The Festival’s executive director Yvonne Ervin said that Dianne Reeves and the Hot Sardines are the only confirmed act at this time. “January in Tucson is the perfect time to enjoy and celebrate jazz music,” Ervin said.
Ervin was the founding director of the Tucson Jazz Society and marketing director for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. She coordinated the Mingus Festival in 1993, and organized the world’s longest running women’s jazz celebration: Primavera Jazz Fest. Ervin told me that she was the Weekly’s first Jazz columnist. The Jazz Festival’s artistic directors are L.A. Emmy Award-winning vocalist Jeff Haskell and managing director of Modern Works Music Publishing, Dan Coleman.
The event sponsors include Jim Click Automotive, Holualoa Companies, Tucson Jazz Society, Sinfonia HealthCare Corp., Law Office of JoJene Mills, P.C., Northern Trust Company and more.
Ervin says that offers have been made for some notable musicians, but plans on booking local and regional talent, to perform and open for the major acts.
For more information go to tucsonjazz.org and like the Facebook page for updates.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2014.
Awesome…but let’s get some REAL names!
Let’s not forget about the locals and the venues downtown that have been having a resurgence of Jazz. They deserve to be a part of this too.
Model it after the New Orleans Jazzfest and bring some quality acts. Line up the restaurants, food trucks, and have three or four locations. One being TEP on Ajo, another one Udall Park on the eastside, #3 Pima County Fairgrounds, and the 4th could be at UA stadium. (Alternating nights.)
Use the headliners every other day and charge admission. NO is $35 to watch a day of awesome jazz. This would bring people from all over the southwest and fill restaurants, and hotels. Run Suntran from location to location, that way visitors could see the venues on a full loop tour and pick tomorrows shows.
We need John Mayer and/or Jack Johnson. How about an evening under the stars with Harry Connick Jr, or Jason Mraz?
There is a vibrant scene downtown already that has been created by some hard working musicians with no money or corporate help behind them.
There is a thriving, vibrant, legit Jazz scene every week downtown. It didn’t just pop up this week!! Elliott’s On Congress is coming up on two years of Tucson’s BEST Jazz jam every Monday. Unplugged Tucson might be the best venue for the listener as it is intimate, great import wines and NO TVs! They have Jazz every Thursday. Miss Saigon Downtown – MSDT is the ONLY place in town with Jazz past midnight…the ONLY place!! Fridays 10:30 to 1am!
Your Jazz scene is alive, well, growing and swinging! It’s downtown and has been for a while!! Get out and support it so we can make Congress street explode in January for The Tucson Jazz Festival!
Keep the music legit Jazz, not pop, rock, smooth or anything that isn’t Jazz music. The New Orleans Jazz Festival has very little to do with actual Jazz anymore as they have sold out to corporations and pop music. Some of those names you list RAT don’t even play Jazz. The local scene is important to keep in the discussion as it is flourishing and LEGIT Jazz. This festival should look very closely at what they do in Detroit for North America’s largest Jazz fest. Everyone that plays there is true jazz and they don’t sell out to pop music. Attended in the 100s of thousands.
The last time Tucson had a real out door JAZZ festival was May 2002. That was an amazing three days, with remarkable artist.
Hope there will be major headliners, that will draw people who love jazz to downtown in Jan.
Who are you nasty little naysayers? Yvonne rocks! Please, crawl back under your ledges! This is gonna be amazing.
Amazing how coward, bitter haters with no vision or life take shots at success and those who help the community. Hide in the shadows with your misguided comments while others who care do the work. Enjoy your sad little lives.
The Tucson Jazz Institute European Tour is from July 3-19 (16 days) and many European fans can’t wait for their return to perform in the top Jazz Fests in Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland (where thousands are in the audience – a sight to behold for students & parents going for the first time). The students of the Institute, as a result of their time commitment to learning from some of the best instructors in the country, endless practicing and listening to jazz legends, rehearsals, and more performances per year than any pro-big band in this town, have put TUCSON on the global map for years now. Thank you to FOX Tucson Theatre for bringing in the TJI Ellington Big Band to Downtown Tucson and the community every year. They will be performing in a FREE concert at the FOX on June 14, 7 pm, as part of 2nd Saturdays Downtown. Auditions for placement in the school’s summer program are ongoing and the summer session begins June 2. Call Scott Black at 520-971-6694 for an appointment or questions. DONATIONS for the jazz edu scholarship fund (tuition/travel) are being accepted by the Tucson Jazz Music Foundation. Email treasurer@tjmfdn.org if you would like an opportunity to participate in making jazz music education affordable and accessible. Tucson will reap the benefits.
I strongly recommend Unsalted Butter gets facts straight prior to blasting a nationally recognized expert, producer, fund raiser, leader, journalist, living legend in the field of jazz. Yvonne Ervin left Tucson Jazz Society to move to NYC. TJS was in fine financial shape & the board of directors & membership were devastated at her departure. Her sterling reputation shd not be tarnished by such negative, uninformed, erroneous posts like Unsalted Butter. This upcoming January Jazz Festival has the support of many sponsors and volunteers. Let’ s all jump on the bandwagon to help make it a huge success before condemning it.
Thank you Dex. So kind of you. Nice anonymous post.
This is great news, I just hope the organizers are sharp enough to bring in some really big names and pass on all that local downtown “talent”. People can hear that schlock anytime, when they don’t have something better to do. Like watch paint dry.
I think bringing in a headliner or two would be terrific, however I also think that local talent is just that– talent! I’d love to see them perform just as much as I would the big names in Jazz.
Nobody is going to travel to Tucson, book a Hotel Room, Shell out dinero to hear people they have never heard of, and nobody local is going to shell out dinero to hear people they can hear anytime for free.
Tucson has some great local talent. Judy Parsons, get a grip. For some reason, TJS has a bad taste in its mouth with its former Executive Directors (plural). Let’s do a recap, shall we? Not going to mention names here. Just because you are friends with these people for all these years, doesn’t mean that they haven’t had their own personal agendas and funds have gone missing,meaning into personal pockets. Soon to be future non-profit endeavors should be taken into consideration as well…This is why those same people always seem to show up on Board of Directors memberships of non-profit organizations. They’ve got that agenda….DOWN…BEAT. Don’t you know after all these years how it works? Of course you do!
Go ahead and have another drink, unsaltedbutter (aka J.C.) Everyone knows your late-night anonymous posts are full of vitriol and alcohol and don’t have a word of truth to them.
Thank you TW for removing the nasty personal comments. The community will benefit greatly from open constructive discussion. Frank, but constructive.
The perfect person to lead this endeavor IS Yvonne Ervin. There is no one more connected to this Jazz community that will be a diplomat among a very factioned scene. She is fair, has great vision, has led other orgs including TJS, knows what jazz truly is, her fund raising skills and organization is unparalleled and she loves Tucson. I can’t think of anyone who would be better and has more credibility. This will be great for everyone who plays, promotes, listens to and loves jazz not just for Tucson but for the music and the country! The possibilities for Tucson from this fest are endless but let’s stay positive and keep it real. If we have a “Jazz” festival, let’s keep it REAL Jazz. ‘Nuff said.
But as far as what others say that is negative and personal. To each his own. We’ll let our results do the talking. I’ll let the full rooms at our jams downtown decide, not do nothing know nothings that comment behind fake names. Maybe show up to something instead of condemn. Are you really that jealous of success? If you really have so much to say why do it behind a fake name? Stand up for what you believe. Anyone concerned enough with this story who reads it will know exactly who I am from just my initials because I am involved and care about the community. You nasty people who took personal shots…I doubt anyone would know who you are even if you used your real names. I’d rather be trashed by an ignorant few than completely unknown and not contributing in any way.
What’s the take-away? Thanks TW, Yvonne rocks, this fest will be one of Tucson’s greatest successes and TF stands for Tony Frank. Peace!
Why visit Tucson and why choose it as your home? It’s the draw of all that’s naturally attractive about our city, spiced with its townsfolks’ signature events which celebrate their arts & culture, their history, and their regard for recreation. Welcome now The Tucson Jazz Festival, adding another bright facet to our jewel. The Festival will draw those who appreciate this artistic medium to Tucson, will enrich the arts experience of our citizens, and create a fresh, long-overdue infusion of civic pride. With Yvonne Ervins’ experienced and capable hand on the tiller and the Festival’s evolving group of civic, financial and logistical supporters, I have every reason to look to this January as the inauguration of a very joyful annual event.
For those of us who have been facilitating & supporting the Jazz scene since the start of the Tucson Jazz Society; It’s so great to see that this city is now flexing it’s Jazz Muscles. Yvonne has been at the for front of supporting Jazz in Tucson for decades and I heartily support her efforts. Way to go. Bruce Tost