A Jazzin’ July 4

It’s not too soon to be dreaming about summertime plans, especially when the July 4 holiday falls this year on a Thursday, which means that most people (and their sympathetic employers) will likely have a four-day weekend to celebrate. So Frank Malfitano is throwing a wingding to honor the most quintessentially American of musical art forms: The free-admission Syracuse M&T Jazz Fest will begin on Independence Day and run through Saturday, July 6, as it most likely returns for a second session at Onondaga County Parks’ Jamesville Beach.

“We haven’t really signed an agreement and that doesn’t mean other sites aren’t still in play,” Malfitano cautions, “but it really worked out well last year.” The Jazz Fest founder experienced some angst last spring when he had to uproot the 30th edition from Onondaga Community College. A school commencement was booked at OCC’s brand-new SRC Arena and Event Center during the scheduled 2012 Jazz Fest weekend, so Malfitano made the switch-up to Jimmyville. OCC had hosted the fest since 2001, when it had to relocate from its previous berth at downtown’s Clinton Square after 10 years because of delays in reconstruction.

“We didn’t expect a last-minute move from the campus,” he recalls. “That really caught us by surprise, but Parks came through, the site was great and the artists really loved it, which is important to me, because they were looking out at mountains. And people enjoyed being out on the grass; it has a nice, gentle slope there, and the amphitheater setup we had worked really well for staging, so I loved it from a production standpoint. The nice thing about the park this year is that we wouldn’t be sharing it with another event {the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironman triathlon}, and since it’s the Fourth of July, the picnic area and the beach would be open, so this year we can bring the whole park into play.”   

Traffic was no problem at last year’s fest, although some mythic bugaboos from the 20th century may have put a crimp in possible turnout. “We had good attendance both days, at least 10,000 a night,” Malfitano remembers, “but there may have been a perception from the old Jamesville Grove days, where the traffic jams were miles long. We didn’t have any of that; you were in and out in five minutes. That perception has been hanging around from 20 or 30 years ago and we need to get rid of it, because it’s not legit.”  

Jazz Fest attendance varies from year to year, of course, depending mostly on the programmed musical slate. “When you get a major draw like Aretha Franklin or Ray Charles, that’s like the Final Four, so you’re gonna get a big out-of-town audience,” Malfitano admits. “Otherwise, it’s a regional audience, with daytrippers who come in, because we don’t have any overnight camping at the park.” 

The July 4 weekend should prove enticing for local stay-cationers, however, while the festival’s new date, away from its standard third-weekend-of-June slot, is actually deliberate. “We took a hard look at it and there really isn’t anything super-exciting going on that weekend,” Malfitano says, “and not everybody has a camp somewhere. We wanted to get away from the other jazz festivals in Rochester and Saratoga Springs, which are both during the last weekend of June. We moved off of Father’s Day weekend, which proved to be a difficult weekend—I didn’t know so many people loved their dads—and during the third weekend of June we’ve always butted up against graduations and commencements, so we wanted to get clear of that.” 

Malfitano still maintains a relationship with OCC, which is continuing its Arts Across Campus jazz concert series at Storer Auditorium (the James Carter Organ Trio performs March 8, followed April 5 by Jose Feliciano; call 498-2054 for details), but Jazz Fest itself had to leave Onondaga Hill. “Last year with the conflict at the college with the commencement up there was a bit of a wake-up call and we didn’t want to go through that again. And the college is expanding. There’s a lot of construction activity going on up there, and between that and the SRC Arena, which is kind of finding itself, we thought it was time. We had a great run at the college, but Jamesville has a lot of potential. When everybody loves it—the fans, the artists, the vendors and crafters—all you gotta do is really fine-tune it: There are logistical, operational type things you take a look at.” 

One immediate change: Coolers will be welcome at Jazz Fest, albeit with some stipulations. “Obviously, you can’t bring alcohol into the grounds because you can’t control that,” Malfitano says. “Jazz Fest has really been a family-friendly, community-oriented event, and with the picnic area and beach open, we’re hoping it becomes more of a destination weekend than ever. My agent friends in the industry think that’s what’s going to happen. We’ll get to do three full days of music, which opens things up for local groups, and allows us to ramp the educational program back up for the student groups, because we’ve only had room for a couple of all-star groups the last couple years. 

“We also want to get away from the headliner mentality; the costly big-name headliners are not affordable anymore,” continues Malfitano. “Michael Buble, somebody who’s a huge draw, is getting $500,000, and we can’t do that. And Steely Dan, somebody we’d love to get, is in the $150,000 range. You’ve got paid-admission festivals all around us at Saratoga, Rochester, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, so I think {a free festival} would promote tourism and sell hotel rooms. And the more money we can get, the bigger name headliners we can get, and the happier our sponsors are, because they want more eyes on their brands.”  

M&T Bank is once again the Syracuse Jazz Fest’s naming sponsor, which clearly delights Malfitano. “This is, I think, their third year back after a four-year hiatus,” he reflects. “Before that they were with us for 16 years, so this will be their 20th year with us out of 31, so I’d say that’s pretty good. Sponsorships are really hard to come by and they’ve been very, very supportive.” With an eye toward continuing Jazz Fest, however, Malfitano admits, “I’d love to get multiyear commitments and get all the sponsors locked in. Hopefully, the economy is getting to the point where we can do that again.”

Booking the 2013 Jazz Fest is still a work in progress, however. “First I have to raise the money,” Malfitano declares, “so I spend from August to December writing grants, lobbying, taking meetings and submitting proposals. Then you find out maybe in December, January, sometimes February if that funding is coming in, so right now we’re at that crucial ‘OK, how much of a corner do I paint myself into here’ situation.” 

Malfitano could firm up some Jazz Fest bookings this weekend when he attends the 56th annual Arts Presenters Member Conference, an international music booking industry confab held in Manhattan. “I’ll see my agent colleagues, managers and artist showcases,” he enthuses, “so we leave room {at Jazz Fest} for things we might get excited by in New York City.” And some artists who are performing at nearby Canadian jazz festivals could also be lured for a Salt City visit. “A lot of that talent hasn’t gone to Europe yet for touring,” Malfitano says, “because those European summer festivals don’t happen until July.” 

Malfitano is effusive in his praise of some key political leaders, especially concerning last year’s Hail Mary pass regarding Jamesville Beach. “{Onondaga County Executive} Joanie Mahoney and her team have been great partners during the last three or four years that she’s been in office,” he declares. “It’s the best partnership I’ve ever had with government. The county’s been more generous and the taxpayers have helped us out a lot, so obviously they see some value with the festival. And you gotta dance with who brings ya.” 

Last year’s July 4 music happenings included a new event titled the Syracuse Festival, which ran for several days at the Inner Harbor near West Kirkpatrick Street, so it will be interesting to see if anybody else has similar entertainment ideas, particularly now that the Syracuse M&T Jazz Fest has announced its dates. But Frank Malfitano is ready to party: “We’re gonna pitch our tent, it’s gonna happen, and if people come, we’ll know.”