Concord Jazz Festival

Coordinates: 37°57′33″N 121°56′18″W / 37.95907°N 121.938219°W

Scott Hamilton (sax) and Ray Brown (bass) at the festival in 1979

The Concord Jazz Festival is an annual event that was established in 1969 in Concord, California.

The festival was launched by Carl Jefferson, a car dealer and jazz enthusiast, who managed to get a group of friends to support the concept. The city agreed to pay for half the cost. The first festival was held on 26 January 1969 in a field next to the high school called the Concord Boulevard Neighborhood Park. It attracted 17,000 attendees. Performers in subsequent years included Oscar Peterson, Pearl Bailey, Peter Nero, George Shearing, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan, and Dave Brubeck. In May 1975 the Concord Pavilion was opened, a roofed area with no walls that covers 3,500 seats with room for 4,500 more on the surrounding lawns. The pavilion is used for many other purposes.^[1]

Carl Jefferson founded Concord Records in 1973, with the Concord Jazz label. In 2004 the Concord Music Group was formed by the merger of Concord Records with Fantasy Records. The labels have released many classic albums.^[2]

Live recordings

A few of the live recordings that have been made at the festival:

• Seven, Come Eleven by jazz guitarists Herb Ellis and Joe Pass, 29 July 1973
• Sugarloaf Suite, Charlie Byrd, 1980
• Dynamite "Live" at The Concord Jazz Festival Don Menza (1980)
• The Woody Herman Big Band Live at the Concord Jazz Festival 1981, with Stan Getz.^[3]
• Live at the 1990 Concord Jazz Festival Third Set Ernestine Anderson
• Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival, Charlie Byrd and various artists, 1995.^[4]

References

1. "Concord Jazz Festiva". Cowell Historical Society. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
2. "Concord Music Group Labels". Concord Music Group. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
3. "Woody Herman Big Band, The – Live At The Concord Jazz Festival". Discogs. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
4. "Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-09-24.