The 27th-annual Iowa City Jazz Festival brings some big names in the jazz world to the stage this weekend.
By Levi Wright
Friday through July 2, the Iowa City Summer of the Arts will bop up the summer with the city’s 27th-annual Jazz Festival. The event will bring in some of the biggest names in jazz for a weekend of free events.
Summer of the Arts has hosted the Iowa Arts Festival this summer, earlier this month. It will also produce the Iowa Soul Festival later this summer.
“I think [Summer of the Arts] serves a lot of different purposes, from the economic impact of people coming to downtown Iowa City to people coming from outside the area spending money in the shops, restaurants, and hotels,” said Lisa Barnes, the executive director of Summer of the Arts. “It has a positive impact on economics, but the biggest thing, and what Summer of the Arts’ goal is, just building community and bringing people together.”
Jazz Festival has brought both new and established jazz musicians throughout the years, including Charles Lloyd, Pharoah Sanders, and Derek Trucks Band. The celebration has steadily grown in size.
Musicians who performed in previous years are less likely to play consecutively, said John Kenyon, the head of the music-selection committee. That way, different jazz can be heard throughout the years.
With a variety of jazz sub-genres to choose from, Jazz Festival has a lot to think about.
“We put together a wish list of who we want to see perform, and we come together a few times to talk about what acts we think would be good for the current year,” Kenyon said.
This year, the main attractions include the Donny McCaslin Group and Stacey Kent; both were on the committee’s wish list.
McCaslin, who is recognized for being featured on David Bowie’s last album, Blackstar, plays an improvisational style of jazz.
According to the Summer of the Arts website, three-time Oscar-winning songwriter Jay Livingston said Kent is a natural.
“Stacey Kent is a revelation,” Livingston said. “There is nobody singing today who can compare with her. She has the style of the greats, like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. And she sings the words like Nat Cole: clean, clear, and almost conversational with perfect phrasing. And that’s as good as it gets.”
Festival officials say talents such as the Donny McCaslin Group and Kent is a bargain for local audiences.
“You’re able to experience somebody at the Jazz Fest, like Stacey Kent, who is one of our headliners, who you would have to go to a big city and spend $50 in most cases,” Barnes said. “And here she is in your backyard, and you don’t have to buy a ticket for it.”
The Jazz Festival will have four stages: one main stage and three side stages. The side stages also provide patrons with the chance to see other artists while the main stage switches performers, so there will be a constant flow of jazz ranging from Dixieland to modern.
The Dandelion Stompers, a New Orleans jazz band from Iowa City, will perform on one of the side stages.
“I consider [our music] good-time music,” said Chris Clark, bandleader and baritone saxophonist for the band. “It’s music that you don’t have to take very seriously. It’s music that is here for the sole purpose of dancing, and having a good time, and enjoying yourself.”
