The Concord Jazz Festival is an annual event that was established in 1969 in
Concord, California
Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County, California, United States. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 124,016 in 2024, maki ...
.
The festival was launched by
Carl Jefferson, a car dealer and jazz enthusiast, who managed to get a group of friends to support the concept. The city agreed to pay for half the cost. The first festival was held on 26 January 1969 in an 8-acre park called the Concord Boulevard Neighborhood Park (later renamed Dave Brubeck Park), adjacent to
Concord High School. It attracted 17,000 attendees.
Performers in subsequent years included
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...
,
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer, comedian and author. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in '' St. Louis Woman'' in 1946. She received a Special Tony Award for the ti ...
,
Peter Nero,
George Shearing
Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 so ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
,
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, pianist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing t ...
, and
Dave Brubeck
David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...
.
In May 1975 the
Concord Pavilion
Toyota Pavilion at Concord (formerly known as Concord Pavilion) is an amphitheatre located in Concord, California. It is owned by the City of Concord and operated by Live Nation. The Pavilion has a capacity of 12,500 people and opened in 1975 as ...
was opened as a home for the festival. It is an amphitheater in the Concord hills, featuring a roofed area with no walls that covers 3,500 seats, plus room for 4,500 more on the surrounding lawns. The pavilion is used for many other purposes.
Carl Jefferson founded
Concord Records
Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists ha ...
in 1973, with the ''Concord Jazz'' label.
In 2004 the Concord Music Group was formed by the merger of Concord Records with
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...
.
The labels have released many classic albums.
Live recordings
A few of the live recordings that have been made at the festival:
*''
Seven, Come Eleven'' by jazz guitarists
Herb Ellis and
Joe Pass
Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass recorded and performed live with pianist Oscar Peterson, composer Duke Ellington, and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, he ...
, 29 July 1973
*"
The L.A. Four Scores!"
The L.A. Four, 1975
* ''Sugarloaf Suite'',
Charlie Byrd, 1980
*''Dynamite "Live" at The Concord Jazz Festival''
Don Menza
Don Menza (born April 22, 1936) is an American jazz saxophonist.
Career
Menza was born in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, where he attended Grover Cleveland High School (Buffalo, New York), Grover Cleveland High School. After serving in the U.S. ...
(1980)
*''The Woody Herman Big Band Live at the Concord Jazz Festival 1981'', with
Stan Getz
Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...
.
*"Concord on a Summer Night" by
The Dave Brubeck Quartet, 8 August 1982, on the
Concord Jazz
Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...
label, with liner notes by
Carl Jefferson.
* ''Live at the 1990 Concord Jazz Festival Third Set''
Ernestine Anderson
* Fujitsu-Concord 26th Jazz Festival, Charlie Byrd and various artists, 1995.
References
{{Authority control
Jazz festivals in California
Music festivals in California
Concord, California
Music of the San Francisco Bay Area
Music festivals established in 1969
1969 establishments in California
Jazz clubs in California