Your weekly guide to Jazz in Buffalo.
Tony’s Thoughts
Five Years In, This One Feels Important
As we get ready for the 5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival this Sunday, I’ve found myself thinking back to why we started it in the first place. Five years ago, there was no certainty about what the Buffalo Jazz Festival might become. There was simply a belief that a city with Buffalo’s musical history, its extraordinary musicians, and its growing jazz community deserved a festival that proudly carried its name. So we started building.
Like anything worth building, it hasn’t happened all at once. Each year we’ve learned something. We’ve welcomed new artists, watched audiences grow, and continued thinking about how the festival could become something people look forward to every year.
This summer added another dimension. Through our Summer of Jazz experiences on Ellicott Street, we’ve watched people come downtown, pull up chairs, meet friends, enjoy food and drinks, dance, linger, and spend an afternoon together around music. We’ve had a glimpse of what that street can become when we give people a reason to be there.
Sunday feels like an opportunity to bring all of that together.
Of course, I hope we have a wonderful crowd. But what I’m thinking about most isn’t simply how many people attend. I’m thinking about whether we’re continuing to build something people want to see grow into a yearly experience. Something musicians are proud to be part of. Something our community begins to think of as one of those traditions that simply belongs on the Buffalo calendar.
We’re only five years in. There’s much more we hope this festival can become. But sometimes building a tradition simply means taking the next step together.
Sunday is our next step.
I hope you’ll spend the afternoon with us on Ellicott Street.
With gratitude,
Tony Zambito
Executive Director, JazzBuffalo
What We’re Building
A Jazz Festival Worthy of Buffalo’s Name
We’ve used that phrase quite a bit lately: Buffalo deserves a jazz festival worthy of its name.
But what does that really mean?
It means building a festival that reflects the quality, broad character, and musical spirit of our city. One that brings nationally and internationally recognized artists to Buffalo while placing them alongside the outstanding musicians who call our region home. A festival that gives people another reason to come downtown, spend time here, and experience Buffalo through music.
And, over time, it means building something that reaches beyond a single Sunday.
Around the country, cities such as Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Rochester have jazz festivals that have become closely associated with the places whose names they carry. They’ve developed over many years, and we’re certainly not suggesting that a five-year-old Buffalo Jazz Festival is there yet. But they demonstrate what can happen when a festival becomes part of a city’s cultural identity.
That’s what we mean by a festival worthy of Buffalo’s name.
Something our own community can take pride in and look forward to each year. And something that, as it grows, can help introduce people from outside our region to Buffalo as a destination for music, arts, culture, and memorable experiences.
That’s the aspiration.
We want the Buffalo Jazz Festival to become an annual cultural tradition—one that our community looks forward to, artists want to be part of, and visitors eventually put on their calendars as another reason to visit and experience Buffalo.
That doesn’t happen simply because we put the city’s name on a festival. It happens when the community and the region begin to make the festival their own.
That’s why Sunday matters.
Every person who comes downtown, pulls up a chair, brings a friend, supports a nearby business, listens to an artist, and spends part of the day with us helps take another step toward what this festival can become.
We’re building it one year at a time.
And we hope you’ll be part of what we’re building this Sunday
This Week’s Featured Event
5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival — This Sunday on Ellicott Street
This Sunday, September 6, Ellicott Street becomes the home of the 5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival, bringing together outstanding musicians from Buffalo and our region with nationally and internationally recognized jazz artists for an afternoon of music in the heart of downtown.
And once again, it’s free and open to everyone.
This year’s festival moves through four distinctive musical experiences. From the imaginative sound of strings and the infectious swing of 1930s Paris to the Great American Songbook and the sounds of Brazil, we’ve put together an afternoon that reflects the wonderful breadth of jazz.
The Festival Schedule
12:45 PM — Vibrant Strings
A distinctive Buffalo ensemble blending the warmth and beauty of strings with jazz, contemporary influences, and imaginative arrangements.
2:15 PM — Victrola Voilà Trio
Coming from Rochester, Victrola Voilà brings the infectious rhythms of Django Reinhardt, hot club swing, vintage jazz, and the spirit of 1930s Paris to Ellicott Street.
4:00 PM — Marcus Goldhaber
Buffalo native and New York City-based vocalist and songwriter Marcus Goldhaber returns home, bringing his distinctive storytelling and contemporary approach to the Great American Songbook to the Buffalo Jazz Festival.
6:00 PM — Três Mais featuring Karrin Allyson
We close the festival with the sounds of Brazil as Três Mais welcomes five-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Karrin Allyson for what promises to be a memorable finale to the day.
Come Spend the Afternoon With Us
The Buffalo Jazz Festival isn’t meant to be something you simply stop by to see. Give yourself the afternoon.
Bring a chair. Meet some friends. Enjoy something to eat or drink. Hear an artist you already know and perhaps experience someone you haven’t heard before. Most of all, spend some time downtown and enjoy what happens when we turn Ellicott Street over to music and community for a day.
5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival
Sunday, September 6 | Music begins at 12:45 PM
Ellicott Street | Downtown Buffalo | In Front of Tappo Restaurant
FREE
Great American Songbook Spotlight
Frank Sinatra and Buffalo’s Harold Arlen
Here’s a wonderful piece of Great American Songbook history—and one with a direct connection to Buffalo.
Frank Sinatra performs alongside Buffalo-born composer Harold Arlen, with Arlen himself at the piano, in performances of two of his most recognizable songs: “Come Rain or Come Shine” and “I’ve Got the World on a String.”
There is something special about actually seeing them together. Arlen would become one of the most prolific authors and composers of the Great American Songbook, writing songs that Sinatra and generations of jazz artists would continue to interpret and make their own.
As we prepare to fill Ellicott Street with jazz this Sunday, it’s another reminder that Buffalo has its own remarkable place in the story of the American Songbook.
Watch Frank Sinatra and Harold Arlen together. The video quality is poor; however, it is a rare historical moment of the two performing together in 1953 on the Colgate Comedy Hour television show:
Community Spotlight
When Art and Business Work Together
One of the things we’ve witnessed throughout this Summer of Jazz is what can happen when the arts and local businesses work together with a shared purpose.
A wonderful example has been the hardworking team at Tappo Restaurant. Creating these experiences on Ellicott Street requires much more than opening the doors and putting out a few tables. Their staff has worked tirelessly throughout the summer to help transform the street, welcome thousands of people downtown, and create an atmosphere where people can enjoy the music, have something to eat or drink, and simply spend time together.
We’ve also been fortunate to have the superb sound production led by Mark Percy, whose professionalism and attention to the music have helped ensure that what audiences experience from the stage matches the quality of the musicians performing on it. Great live music depends upon great sound, and Mark and his team have been an important part of making that happen.
These may seem like different contributions, but together they illustrate something important.
When arts organizations, businesses, and talented people work together, everyone benefits. Artists have a place to perform. Businesses welcome people through their doors. Audiences have memorable experiences. And downtown becomes a more active, inviting place for our entire community. That’s the kind of partnership we need more of.
And this Sunday, when you look down Ellicott Street and see the music, the tables, the stage, the restaurant, and hopefully a street filled with people, you’ll be seeing what that partnership can make possible.
ArtsBuffalo Spotlight
Thinking About Downtown as a Cultural Destination
Throughout this summer, we’ve been exploring the role arts and culture can play in bringing people downtown and giving them more reasons to stay. But there’s a larger question we’re beginning to think about through ArtsBuffalo:
What would it mean to think of downtown Buffalo itself as a cultural destination?
Not simply as a collection of individual venues, organizations, restaurants, and events, but as a place where those experiences begin to connect. It’s an idea we’re going to explore much more in the weeks ahead—particularly what it could mean for audiences, arts organizations, businesses, and the future of downtown Buffalo.
For now, we have a jazz festival to enjoy.
We’ll come back to this conversation after Sunday.
Plan Ahead
The Music Continues This Fall
The Buffalo Jazz Festival may bring our Summer of Jazz to a close this Sunday, but there’s plenty more ahead as we move into fall.
We’ll return to Art Meets Jazz at Beebe’s on September 23, featuring the Rick Strauss Trio with Lisa Hasselback and Ed Croft, as we celebrate Rick ahead of his induction into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame. Then, on October 21, rising jazz vocalist Elena Izquierdo returns for another special Art Meets Jazz evening.
On October 29, we’ll return to the Jazz Lounge at the Statler for Sinatra in the Lounge, featuring vocalist Zach Carr with My Cousin Toné in an evening celebrating the music, swing, and enduring legacy of Frank Sinatra.
And on November 8, a new season of Jazz at Kleinhans begins with two-time Grammy Award winner Nicole Zuraitis, opening another extraordinary season in one of Buffalo’s most magnificent concert halls.
There’s much more to come. But first, we’ll see you Sunday on Ellicott Street.
This Week on JazzBuffalo.org
This week, we’ve put our “Why” series for the 5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival in the spotlight for you. Read and learn why the entire Sunday afternoon should be experienced!
The Buffalo Jazz Festival Is Free. Your Support Helps Keep It That Way.
Posted on by Tony Zambito
As we prepare for the 5th Annual Buffalo Jazz Festival, we are sending a simple invitation to help us keep the festival free and open to everyone. As we get […]
Why Três Mais and Karrin Allyson Are an Experience You Won’t Want to Miss
Posted on by Tony Zambito
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about this year’s Summer of Jazz has been taking a musical journey together. We’ve traveled to Paris. We’ve celebrated the rhythms of Latin […]
Why You Should Experience Victrola Voilà at the Buffalo Jazz Festival
Posted on by JazzBuffalo
Rochester’s Victrola Voilà brings the irresistible swing of 1930s Paris to Ellicott Street—and another opportunity to discover an outstanding regional jazz ensemble. One of the things we believe a jazz […]
Why Marcus Goldhaber Is an Artist You Need to Experience
Posted on by Tony Zambito
One of the most rewarding parts of presenting jazz is welcoming artists home. Marcus Goldhaber is one of those artists. Born and raised in Buffalo, Marcus has built an impressive […]
Why You Should Experience Vibrant Strings at the Buffalo Jazz Festival
Posted on by Tony Zambito
An imaginative Buffalo trio brings the warmth of strings and a distinctive musical voice to Ellicott Street. One of the things we want the Buffalo Jazz Festival to reflect is […]
Check Upcoming Jazz at JazzBuffalo.org
As we enter the summer season, Buffalo comes alive with jazz performances, festivals, and concerts. Be sure to visit the Upcoming Events section on JazzBuffalo.org to stay current on all the live jazz and other music taking place throughout the city and region. With many unique events submitted weekly, we encourage you to visit the website regularly to discover where jazz is happening. Click here to view all the upcoming events!
https://jazzbuffalo.org/upcoming-event
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