Event Sponsors
Harold and Evelyn R. Davis Memorial Foundation
Guy-Nadel Family Foundation
28th Annual Sarasota Jazz Festival set for March 2-8
13 Events in Seven Music-Filled Days with international stars,free concerts, kids' concert, jazz trolley, jazz lectures and more Festival headliners include Branford Marsalis, Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, Peter Appleyard, Marcus Belgrave, Chuck Mangione, Chenille Sisters, James Dapogny, Loren Schoenberg.
SARASOTA, FL — The 28th Annual Sarasota Jazz Festival is ready to swing, says Gordon Garrett, president of the festival's originator, the Jazz Club of Sarasota. "Over 10,000 people attended our Festival last year," he says. "Thanks to enthusiastic audience response and co-sponsorship by the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, we are once again to expand our festival. We will be presenting 13 exciting events in seven music-filled days, from Sunday, March 2 through Saturday, March 8."
Each year, the Sarasota Jazz Festival presents a mix of free and ticketed concerts by international stars and local musicians in a variety of venues including a trolley-based night of club-hopping. For its 2008 Festival, the Jazz Club adds several more events to its lineup including a concert just for kids and a free workshop—a musical demonstration followed by a Q&A — by the eminent Dr. Billy Taylor. As it has done every year since 1987, the Club will also present its highest honor, the Satchmo Award, to one of the world's great jazz musicians for a "Unique and Enduring Contribution to the Living History of Jazz, Our Original American Art Form." The Harold and Evelyn R. Davis Memorial Foundation sponsors this award in tribute to the founders of the Jazz Club.
Headliners for 2008 include many returning favorites as well as several first-time visitors. New to Jazz Club audiences are saxophonist Branford Marsalis of the musical Marsalis dynasty; Gillespie-inspired trumpeter Chuck Mangione; Marcus Belgrave, the 2002 Benny Golson Jazz Master winner, with his "Louis Armstrong Tradition"; and the versatile Chenille Sisters, favorites of Prairie Home Companion, performing for kids on Saturday morning and with pianist/musicologist James Dapogny's Chicago Jazz Band for an adult concert on Saturday afternoon. A full schedule of activities appears below.
Returning favorites include three Satchmo winners: Dick Hyman, Peter Appleyard and Dr. Billy Taylor. Pianist/composer/conductor/arranger Hyman of Venice, Florida, teams with Toronto-based vibraphonist Appleyard for two concerts, reprising performances that have become favorites at festivals internationally. In addition to his workshop, frequent guest Dr. Billy Taylor—the prominent jazz pianist, educator and broadcaster—heads his Trio for a return Festival concert. Popular area drummer Tom Carabasi and his group perform once again for Jazz on the Bayfront, a free concert.
Tickets are now on sale at various locations throughout the community and also online for some concerts, as specified below. To learn more about the Sarasota Jazz Festival, its special Festival Patron Packages, concerts and memberships, please call 941-366-1552 (Wednesday through Friday), write to Jazz Club of Sarasota, 330 S. Pineapple Avenue, Suite 111, Sarasota, FL 34236, e-mail to admin@JazzClubSarasota.com.
Sponsors for the 28th Annual Sarasota Jazz Festival include the Guy-Nadel Family Foundation, Harold and Evelyn Davis Memorial Foundation, Piano Distributors of Sarasota, Sarasota County Department of Parks and Recreation, State of Florida Department of State/Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Sarasota County Arts Council, Tourist Development Council and Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners, WUSF Public Broadcasting and WSJT 94.1.
