Get In the Swing With Jazz Festival This Weekend

Have any plans this weekend? Let’s assume the answer is “yes” – the third annual Center City Jazz Festival is going down this Saturday, and you won’t want to miss the chance to take in all the best music that the city has to offer.

Center City music lovers are in for a treat this Saturday. Photo: CCJF

Sixteen acts will be performing at four local venues over the course of six hours this Saturday, April 19th. One ticket ($15) gets you admission to Chris’ Jazz Cafe, Time Restaurant, Fergie’s Pub and Milkboy, where a diverse lineup of bluesy, soulful, jazzy geniuses will keep the music going from 1pm until 7pm. All the venues are within close walking distance of each other. Saturday’s forecast is looking cloudy, but dry – everything is in place for an amazing event.

The Jazz Festival was the brainchild of trombone maestro Ernest Stuart, who raised over seventeen thousand dollars in Kickstarter crowdfunding to inaugurate the event in 2012. In many ways, the festival is still very much a work in development. Last year, the festival encompassed multiple days and a handful of headliners. This year, organizers opted to winnow the fest down to a single day, with a bumper crop of local and independent artists that represent what Stuart calls “real jazz.” Whether you are a major musical enthusiast out to revel in real talent or a jazz newb, the event aims to furnish a master class in outstanding tunes.

As the years go on, it will be interesting to watch the Jazz Festival find its footing and develop new traditions. In the meantime, here’s to an Easter weekend that’s sure to bring some swing to the spring.