The Clearwater Jazz Holiday is a four-day and four-night, world-class, live, music festival, enjoyed by over 35,000 people the third week of every October and now in its 40th year. The music festival has evolved from a series of concerts on the back of a flatbed truck and at venues around Clearwater into an annual, international, music festival that draws tens of thousands of visitors each year to beautiful Coachman Park in Clearwater, against the backdrop of the Gulf of Mexico, warm breezes, brilliant sunsets, and one of the world’s greatest beaches.
The Clearwater Jazz Holiday festival features a combination of legendary and relevant musical artists and a gathering of an amazingly diverse fan base. Over its 39-year history, a long and impressive list of legendary jazz talents have made stops in Clearwater such as Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie (left), Herbie Mann, Dave Brubeck, Tito Puente, Stephan Grappelli, Stan Getz, and the Count Basie Orchestra.
The Clearwater Jazz Holiday’s modern-day, diverse line-up covers a wide array of musical styles: straight ahead and smooth jazz, swing, blues, jamband, rock, folk, Americana, funk, and Zydeco and showcases a new generation of artists, emerging stars, and classic legends including Tony Bennett, Earth, Wind & Fire (Featured Photo above), Chicago, Bonnie Raitt (right), Trombone Shorty, The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Esperanza Spalding, Marcus Roberts, Mindi Abair, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Medeski, Martin & Wood, Soulive, Christian McBride, Bela Fleck, Boney James, Brian Culbertson, Spirit Family Reunion, Amos Lee, Lake Street Dive, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Buddy Guy, Gladys Knight, Commodores, Kool & The Gang, UB40, Grace Potter, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins and the list goes on and on….
All 39 years of the Clearwater Jazz Holiday have helped to shape this unique magical and magnetic destination experience built on incredible community support. The true magic stems from those who built, shaped and implemented the experience, many of which share a multi-generational bond with it. The festival is organized and supported by the Clearwater Jazz Holiday Foundation. The Foundation’s dedicated and engaged Board of Directors is composed of community leaders, who oversee production of the festival and various innovative education and outreach initiatives. (Photo left of Alison Krauss in 2019 line-up)
The Foundation also orchestrates the popular Jazz Force committee of lead volunteers who work tirelessly to operationally implement the four-day celebration every October and manage hundreds of services needed to accommodate thousands of visitors. The Foundation’s wonderful family of corporate and strategic partners and its popular High Note Society membership help to sustain and grow this timeless tradition. Clearwater Jazz Holiday programs are also funded in part by grants from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts & Culture and the Pinellas County Commission through the Cultural Development Grants Program of the Cultural Affairs Department. For tickets and this year’s line-up go to https://www.clearwaterjazz.com/
Content supplied by the Clearwater Jazz Holiday. Any photo subject to copyright and may not be used for commercial purposes without written approval by the band.