Wein's jazz fest without JVC Corp

Vision Festival 14 is on! come one come all and be beyond!

Obviously an evolving story, but Down Beat will address some of the sponsorship concerns in its annual festival issue. I have a feature in there about the situation in Canada, where, despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding General Motors -- the principal sponsor of the world's largest jazz festival, in Montreal -- all our festivals have this year's sponsorships locked down and they're motoring on. 2010 could be a different issue if things don't turn around, though if that's the case, jazz festivals may well be the least of our concerns.

The Newport Jazz Festival paved the way for so many other jazz festivals around the country, including the Litchfield Jazz Festival -- which will indeed run this year, July 31 – August 2 -- in northwest Connecticut. Ironically the lack of one large major corporate sponsor turns out to be a positive thing for Litchfield, which is secure and getting ready for our 14th season in a new venue -- the grounds of Kent School in Kent, CT.

The 2009 line-up, announced just last week, includes the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Poncho Sanchez, Bucky Pizzarelli, Houston Person and more. Kent is two hours north of NYC with a Metro North train stop close by. We have taken this opportunity to work together with the Kent Chamber of Commerce, Kent School and Kent community to boost their economy and enhance their cultural experience. The Litchfield Jazz Camp (running for 4 session July 5 – 31) will host more than 20 free concerts at Kent School and in local restaurants, leading up to the jazz festival weekend by faculty (including Music Director Don Braden, Nilson Matta, Martin Wind, Alvin Atkinson, Claire Daly, Roni Ben-Hur, Claudio Roditi, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Dena DeRose and many others) and advanced students from the camp. To make jazz accessible to everyone we award up to $100,000 in need-based scholarships to the camp each summer and encourage families to attend with children under 12 free on the lawn. www.litchfieldjazzfest.com

HM: Thanks for this good news, Lindsay. I did not mean to suggest that Litchfield is in trouble -- and it may well be that the smaller, well-focused local fests that do not depend on financial support from a single sponsor have an advantage in surviving the current shake-ups; I hope so. I'd like to hear from jazz fests all around the U.S. about their 2009 plans.

I have also heard from George Wein's publicist: "The [Newport jazz] festival will happen even if there is no sponsor. George can handle it!"