The 2022 Scottsdale Jazz Festival on Saturday evening, April 30, International Jazz Day, brought a new kind of excitement to downtown Scottsdale. A variety of Jazz types from Latin, New Orleans, Blues, and other styles filled the outdoor air in the Scottsdale Civic Center. Such a successful outdoor Jazz event is new to Scottsdale.
Richard Elliot and Rick Braun highlighted the evening, each seasoned showmen with their unique signature sounds, who performed together as RnR. They played off of one another excitingly well and had the audience on their feet dancing.
The electrifying voice of Nayo Jones of the Nayo Jones Experience from New Orleans provided a vocal style of Jazz for the evening. And local Trumpeter, Jesse McGuire, enthralled the audience with his unique and nationally recognized rendition of the National Anthem.
The event was a sellout, attracting a large, ethnically diversified audience to Scottsdale. People without tickets had to be turned away at the entrance. Attendees included national visitors from the east and west of Arizona and Mexico.
It met one of the City of Scottsdale’s goals: to extend the shoulder period of tourism following Spring Training. Further, the audience consisted of many people who seldom, if ever, visited Scottsdale.
Jazz again demonstrated that this uniquely American form of music brings people of all types together. It was an economically, linguistically, and ethnically diverse audience aging from young to old.
Another goal of the Festival was to support young people by encouraging them to learn, play and enjoy Jazz. Preceding the formal opening of the Festival at 3:15 pm, the Molina 32nd Street All-Star Youth Jazz Band from Phoenix Country Day School performed their final gig for the year.
While this was not the first Scottsdale Jazz Festival, it was the most successful. The 2020 event had to be canceled due to the onslaught of the pandemic 2020. The 2021 event was held just as a few people began to feel comfortable mingling. This 2022 event was ten times the size of last year’s and set a threshold for an even more significant event in 2023.
Essential to the community, this event was a grass-root organized one. It was not a commercial, for-profit group that made it happen in Scottsdale. Led by William “Doc” Jones, the organizing team consisted of jeweler Alfredo Molina for financial and moral support and for attracting a VIP audience; Andrew Birgensmith for all production details; 602 AZ Multimedia for national and local promotion; and Doc as the recruiter of the jazz bands for the program.
The event’s success is also attributed to the support of the cities of Paradise Valley, Tempe, and Scottsdale. The three mayors agreed that having an event centered in Scottsdale would attract visitors to all three cities. They actively promoted the event and participated in selected circumstances.
Low-cost, general admission tickets were made possible by the sponsorship of the City of Scottsdale, the Arizona Office of Tourism VAI Grant, Molina Fine Jewelers, Crescent Crown, Constellation Distribution, B&B Development and Construction, The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, and many others.
The Scottsdale Jazz Festival concluded International Jazz Appreciation Month in the area. The valley began the month’s celebration with an official kick-off at TEMPE JAZZ DAY at the Tempe Center For the Arts on April 8 featuring Nayo Jones. This was followed by JAZZ AT LUCH on April 20 on the lawn of the Arizona State Capital. On the evening of April 29, the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa held a Kierland After Dark Premiere party of Jazz.
Plans are underway for meeting the other goal of this event: to make it an annual event. International Jazz Day will be celebrated in April 2023 with an even more significant event than this year.
The city and the Festival organizers will have more room for the event. The extensive renovation of the Scottsdale Civic Center will have been completed. They also have a success to build upon. Doc Jones and Alfredo Molina, the lead event organizers, stated, “We believe we can make it ten times more successful than this year.”
Let’s produce your city’s next Jazz Festival
By: Max Rumbaugh
https://www.scottsdalejazzfest.org/
Media Contact
Company Name: International Jazz Day AZ Foundation
Contact Person: Dr. William Doc Jones
Email: Send Email
Phone: 602 524 7998
Address:422 West Rockwood Dr.
City: Phoenix
State: AZ 85027
Country: United States
Website: https://jazzdayaz.com/