Future of Jazz winners react to festival news

As most of you know by now, it appears that the 2009 Atlanta Jazz Festival has been cancelled. I've heard from the mayor's office that the Bureau of Cultural Affairs is looking for potential sponsors to bring a 2010 festival to Atlanta, but the city will not be contributing money from its general fund for that purpose. According to the city’s FY2009 budget summary, eliminating the jazz festival will save $142,000.

This week, I’ve been e-mailing with last year’s Future of Jazz winners for some perspective on the mayor’s decision. Kemba Cofield, who won the competition in the straight-ahead vocal category, will be heading to New York next month to record a new album. Mace Hibbard won last year's straight-ahead instrumental contest. Pianist and flutist Bradford won the nu-jazz category and performs frequently with The Nick Longo Band at the Sambuca Jazz Cafe. Below are their reactions to the mayor’s news.

"I believe the city would do the world an injustice by canceling the jazz fest forever. I'm wise enough to know that we as a nation are struggling. I know that the city of Atlanta has been in a deficit for awhile now. My main concern is cancel (final), end (no more), forever (stop).

There are very few places here that cater to jazz music. There are several places that cater to R&B music, which is fabulous, but jazz is jazz. Without the jazz fest, those of us that are still hanging in the trenches don't have a place to even show our growth or our creativity to a larger audience in our city. It's a very frustrating concept for me to grasp. Local musicians look forward to jazz fest. As a matter of fact, it's my holiday. I look forward every year to jazz fest to see fresh talent from all around."

— Kemba Cofield

"I certainly understand the argument that with the economy in the shape it is it might make sense to cancel the festival this year. Even putting on the festival with local musicians is costly, so putting it off a year might be the sensible thing to do. It seems like the festival last year was an indication that the festival might be on the way out.

Honestly, I'm not sure if the cancellation will have a major effect on the scene here. Until last year, the local musicians didn't have much of a presence at the festival. There was a local stage, but the musical acts were largely winners of the Future of Jazz competition. Therefore, there were only a handful of the cities more well-known acts each year.

It is difficult to be real upset about losing a jazz festival when over 200 people have lost their jobs. While the jazz festival is obviously important to me, there are a lot of people that are much more affected by these cuts. Hopefully if the economy ever recovers, some of the art programming will be reborn."

— Mace Hibbard

"It is sad indeed that we won't have an Atlanta Jazz Festival in 2009. I do think if we don't bring it back, Atlanta will fade a bit over time as far as being associated with good jazz music. The move from Piedmont Park to Woodruff Park probably didn't help; I think everybody at Cultural Affairs did a great job getting a new venue and playing the hand they were dealt, but it's just not the same vibe when you have Auburn Avenue dividing the stage from the audience.

I'm not big on public spending. I think the city definitely has a coordinating role to play [in the festival], but I believe things like this should not be funded by the public at large if most of the public isn't interested in the jazz fest. I'm not sure what the city of Atlanta can, or should, do to try to serve as promoter for Atlanta as a jazz city. In my experience, promotion usually means money, and clearly we don't have any to spare. The first thing that should be done—and I'm not sure to what entity this falls—is to get Piedmont Park back as the venue. Then, we need to line up corporate sponsorships. "

— Bradford