Jazz Jottings May 2022

On reading Joe Bebco’s excellent “Festival Roundup,” the casual reader might ask “What’s the difference between a Jazz Festival and a Jazz Party?” To a large degree, it’s mainly in the logistics. As a generalization, a Jazz Festival involves organized bands playing in multiple venues, some of which may be temporary, outdoors and in various locations. A Jazz Party is normally held in a single location, usually a hotel ballroom, with multiple individual musicians performing “mix-and-match” sets throughout the weekend. As one Jazz Party director once explained, “A Jazz Party is smaller with more intimate interplay between the fans and the all-star cast of individually-invited musicians. These world-class musicians may never have played together before, but you would never know that when they get to do what they do best and proceed to spoil us for any other kind of entertainment.” Started by Dick Gibson How Jazz Parties came into being is attributed to the late Dick Gibson in the early 1960s. As a college athlete at the University of Alabama, he played in the 1946 Rose Bowl, after which he taught creative writing and had his friend William Faulkner as a guest lecturer at one of his classes. He went on to become an investment banker and a made a fortune by forming the Waterpik Company, which he sold in 1967. He also wrote fiction and was an expert on oriental rug
You've read three articles this month! That makes you one of a rare breed, the true jazz fan!

The Syncopated Times is a monthly publication covering traditional jazz, ragtime and swing. We have the best historic content anywhere, and are the only American publication covering artists and bands currently playing Hot Jazz, Vintage Swing, or Ragtime. Our writers are legends themselves, paid to bring you the best coverage possible. Advertising will never be enough to keep these stories coming, we need your SUBSCRIPTION. Get unlimited access for $30 a year or $50 for two.

Not ready to pay for jazz yet? Register a Free Account for two weeks of unlimited access without nags or pop ups.

Already Registered? Log In

If you shouldn't be seeing this because you already logged in try refreshing the page.

Lew Shaw started writing about music as the publicist for the famous Berkshire Music Barn in the 1960s. He joined the West Coast Rag in 1989 and has been a guiding light to this paper through the two name changes since then as we grew to become The Syncopated Times.  47 of his profiles of today's top musicians are collected in Jazz Beat: Notes on Classic Jazz. Volume two, Jazz Beat Encore: More Notes on Classic Jazz contains 43 more! Lew taps his extensive network of connections and friends throughout the traditional jazz world to bring us his Jazz Jottings column every month.

Or look at our Subscription Options.