Atlanta Jazz Festival…2004

There was anticipation in the air as the days of jazz approach. The 2004 press conference and announcement party were now a part of jazz history, and the city awaited the gathering of jazzheads on May 29th through the 31st in Piedmont Park. It’s Alonzo Craig’s second year as the festival manager and to his credit he programmed a fabulous lineup of performers, notwithstanding the brothers Heath from his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. It is also the third year for the festival’s Youth Jazz Band Competition where middle and high school students compete for a coveted spot to open each day of the festival weekend.

Performing at the 2004 festival were both local favorites and national acts including Ahmad Jamal, Arturo Sandoval, the Bernard Linnette Trio, the Bob Miles Ensemble, E.J. Hughes Group, Earmail, the Heath Brothers, Hiromi, Hugh Masekela, the Ian Show Trio, International Groove Conspiracy (Future of Jazz Winner), J.C. Young Middle School Jazz Ensemble, Jimmy Scott & the Jazz Experience, Joe Jennings & Howard Nicholson’s Life Force, Johnnie Eason, Julie Dexter, K-Zari Quintet, Lamar County High’s “Trojan Pride” Jazz Band, Life Force & Friends, Lizz Wright, North Atlanta Center for the Arts Jazz Band, the Ojeda Penn Experience, Randy Weston Quintet, the Regina Carter Quintet, the Rick Bell Quintet, Ron Wiggins, the Roy Hargrove Quintet, Russell Gunn & Ethnomusicology, Selah2, Shirley Horn, Takana Miyamoto, the Milkshake Quartet, Tommie Macon & the Gentlemen of Jazz, Toni Redd, Vinicius Cantauria, Yusef Lateef & the Adam Rudolph Duo, and Yusef Sharif.

Sponsoring this weekend of free jazz for the public are Michelob, Atlanta Brewing Company, Borders Books, Music & Movie Cafe, MARTA, Publix Super Markets, Caversham Financial, Comcast, Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown, Premier Events Management, BET Jazz The 24 Hour Jazz Channel, Creative Loafing, Smooth 107.5, WRFG 89.3 FM, Southwest Atlanta Magazine, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine, General Motors, The Atlanta Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Atlanta Tribune The Magazine, HPNOTIQ, Delta Air Lines, Armstrong Marketing, Rolling Out, JazzTimes, Jazz 91.9FM WCLK, Mundo Hispanico, Upscale and Abyss Jazz Magazine. #AJF40

  #preserving genius

More Posts: festival,forty,free,history,jazz,music,tradition,years