M&T Jazz Fest 2014 is all about the big and the new. Over the two-day festival to be held Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12, two 18-piece bands, two 11-piece bands and one 10-piece band will cross the busy stage. And with gigantic names like guitar legend B.B. King and New Orleans favorite Trombone Shorty headlining the free summer festival favorite, “mega” — a word festival founder and producer Frank Malfitano uses often — might be a more appropriate term.
Jazz Fest is also returning to its Onondaga Community College stomping grounds, where it took place from 2001 to 2011, and switching to a brand-new weekend. Malfitano has also announced new production and operations teams and promises new food vendors, Central New York wines and a craft beer selection. Also bringing in the new: The festival stage will host two local high school phenoms, Julia Goodwin and Nick Ziobro.
“It’s really exciting,” Malfitano says. “We’ve got new energy, new ideas, new blood. It’s re-energizing the festival and re-energizing me.”
Last year’s festival took place over the Independence Day weekend at Jamesville Beach Park, its home since 2012. The 2014 edition was moved for many reasons, none of which had to anything to do with a lack in turnout, Malfitano reports.
“I’m glad it happened,” he says, regarding the return to the OCC campus, 4585 W. Seneca Turnpike. “People really like the site. We weren’t forced. It just came about organically. And the weekend. . . we moved away from late June to get away from commencement, graduation parties, weddings, Father’s Day, but we didn’t want to get too far into July or August or compete with the Fourth of July.”
‘We still drew a huge crowd last year,” Malfitano admits, “but we didn’t want to force people to make choices. We selected a weekend that was clear and we’re happy with it. We’ll see how it goes. You have to reinvent yourself all the time.”
The Jazz Fest lineup is one of reinvention, combining one of the most legendary and long-lasting names in the world with one of the newest musical sensations. “It’s a regional exclusive,” Malfitano says about the B.B. King booking. “He’s not playing Rochester, Saratoga or Canadian festivals. Real royalty is coming and I look at it through a different lens. People’s grandchildren are going to be able to go and say they saw B.B. King. He’s one of the top five household names and legendary entertainers. He’s a name everybody in the world knows. It doesn’t happen that often that you get an Aretha (Franklin) or a Ray Charles or a Dizzy Gillespie. B.B. King is in that stratosphere. We’re very honored.”
Gates open at 3 p.m. each day.
Friday, July 11
National Grid Main Stage
(Dedicated in perpetuity to the memory of Louis H. Everding)
5:30 p.m.: Julia Goodwin
(Sponsored by the Carrie Lazarus Fund for Extraordinary Talent)
6:30 p.m.: Mark Doyle’s Guitar Noir
8 p.m.: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
9:30 p.m.: Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue
(Sponsored by the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation)
Saturday, July 12
5 p.m.: Nick Ziobro
(Co-sponsored by Gianelli Sausage and the Carrie Lazarus Fund for Extraordinary Talent)
6:30 p.m.: Igor Butman and the Moscow State Jazz Orchestra featuring Fantine
(Sponsored by the Society for New Music)
8 p.m.: Raul Midon
9:30 p.m.: B.B. King and the B.B. King Orchestra
(Sponsored by the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation with assistance from the Eric Mulhauser Endowment for the Arts)
10:45 p.m.: Fireworks Display
(Sponsored by Price Chopper)
The Royal Treat

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Jessica Novak reports on headliners B.B. King and Trombone Shorty at this summer’s M&T Jazz Fest