Preserve welcomes back Jazz Festival
While the weather may not have been ideal, the music certainly was for the return of the Preserve Jazz Festival on Sept. 17.
After taking a year-long break and hosting the festival at the Sloss Furnaces in 2014, founder and producer Jason Henderson made the decision to bring the festival back to its birthplace at The Preserve in Hoover.
Henderson said while there were things about the furnaces that looked like they would work in the festival’s favor: location, on-site parking and a covered stage for inclement weather, he said the really didn't fit the event.
“Going from this beautiful park setting to an industrial setting, it just wasn’t the same.”
This year’s advanced ticket sales outpaced any other year that the festival has been held. Guests staked their claim on the lawn with chairs, umbrellas and coolers for the day to enjoy the musical acts, crafts, vendors and food the festival had to offer.
Attendees were treated to six acts throughout the day:
- the Hoover High School First Edition Jazz Band
- Vann Burchfield
- Six Times Cool featuring Cleve Eaton
- “Cashmere” Williams
- The Stooges Brass Band
- “Masters of Fusion” featuring Alex Bugnon, Gerald Veasley and Chieli Minucci
“I think [the festival] is great,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick, Director of Bands from Hoover High School. “It’s one of the few true American art forms, and so much [music] emanates from it today.”
As in past years, proceeds will go toward a music scholarship at Samford’s School of the Arts and funding for WVSU, the university’s radio station.
“I might be the producer, but it’s really a community event,” said Henderson. “Hopefully [we’ll] have a tenth annual Preserve Jazz Festival.”