Atlanta Jazz Festival… 1979
The year is 1979. It is the second annual free jazz festival in Atlanta and the Bureau of Cultural Affairs put forth one of the objectives of the festival was to encourage the growth and development of the market for jazz music in Atlanta. The intent would be that the market would create jobs and serve as a n added attraction for conventions and tourists.
Mayor Jackson re**cognized that a jazz culture needs more than an annual festival in order to thrive in Atlanta. It needs a vibrant, substantive, ongoing community of artists and programs. We must also have a commitment to the study and achievement of jazz music as an art form.
In 1979 coming off a successful first year, Commissioner Shirley Franklin had to defend the budget allocated to the Department of Cultural Affairs against an Atlanta Journal Constitution readers poll that suggested the budget be cut. Successful in her defense 19 acts were brought to the festival, it was aired live on 85 radio stations via the NPR Jazz Alive Series and was recorded by Georgia Educational Television for airing at a later date.
The musicians brought to the Atlanta stage were Joe Jennings Life Force, Jazz Bones Orchestra, Bunky Green, New Directions, Eddie Gomez, John Abercrombie, Lester Bowie, Dan Wall Quintet, Clark College Jazz Band, Eddie Henderson, Woody Shaw, Blessed Relief, Charlie Williams Trio, Morehouse College Jazz Band, Joi Tobin, Jimmy Owens Plus Band and Bobby Hutcherson.
Next: The Eighties and Andrew Young…
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