In its 48th iteration in the Spa City, Saratoga Jazz Fest will feature more than 20 acts, including 10 festival debuts.
It will be headlined by Gary Clark Jr., Gregory Porter, and Cassandra Wilson, who is making her only New York appearance at the festival in celebration of the 30th anniversary of her Grammy-winning album “New Moon Daughter.”
The two-day lineup features acts like Kenny Garrett, Julius Rodriguez, Cory Wong, and Lettuce. The festival is June 28th and 29th.
SPAC also announced a new five-year partnership with GE Vernova as the lead sponsor of the festival.
President Elizabeth Sobol says the collaboration will ensure the festival will get to its 50th anniversary and beyond.
“We really believe in the art form of jazz as it itself just continues to evolve in very exciting ways. And one of the things I love about Danny’s programming is that it has evolved along with what we are doing here at SPAC. So, we’ve always got to focus on providing music to the whole community not just the jazz lovers who want to hear the tried-and-trues but really developing a younger crowd, really sharing with them just how magnificent jazz is as a genre and how new and fresh it maintains itself,” said Sobol.
Organizer Danny Melnick says the concert continues to grow.
“I have been booking it since 1999. And I’ve been working on it even longer. My predecessor George Wein, who created the festival in 1978, always looked at Saratoga as a very eclectic mix of artists. And I’ve tried really hard over these decades now to follow that lead and the audience sort of expects it. So, I have this history and also my own personal mandate moving forward to book as eclectic and diverse line-up of artists as I can in the context of the 22 sets,” said Melnick.
He says one of the hardest parts of booking the gig is saying no.
“And the truth is that I do say ‘no’ to hundreds of artists. I don’t leave them hanging, I always reply. And I know in my heart or in my head that those artists aren’t necessarily going to go over well at the festival or they’re not really ready. I value the 22 sets that we have, that’s like the greatest thing that we have, that stage time,” said Melnick.
With the second running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in early June, Jazz Fest won’t exactly be kicking off the busy tourism season, but Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus says being able to host the legendary event is vital to the local economy.
“I mean that’s one of the best things about Saratoga Springs and the county is that our community has understood, particularly in the spring, summer, fall is that these types of events are important, they help us bring visitors here. They help our economy to grow. The other thing that’s sort of underappreciated is that having access to all these types of performances and events also makes the quality of life for the people that live here spectacular,” said Shimkus.