Herbert Jeffrey Hancock is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the post-bop sound. In the 1970s, Hancock experimented with jazz fusion, funk, and electro styles, using a wide array of synthesizers and electronics. It was during this period that he released perhaps his best-known and most influential album, Head Hunters.
The Montreux Jazz Festival is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual jazz festival in the world after Canada's Montreal International Jazz Festival.
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hired George Wein to organize the first festival and bring jazz to Rhode Island.
Pori Jazz is a large international jazz festival, held annually during the month of July in the coastal city of Pori, Finland. It is one of the oldest and best known jazz festivals in Europe, having been arranged every year since 1966.
Spanning all genres and inspirations of jazz, swing, jive, fusion jazz, hot jazz, boogie, diverse cultures and traditions, the Ottawa Jazz Festival has been a trailblazer for more than 40 years in Ottawa, Canada. As the only outdoor music festival in the city's downtown core, Jazz Fest highlights, "a wide range of Canadian and international musical greats to Canada's capital, " as well as, new and emerging talent that covers the spectrum from pop, rock to lush harmonies. As a jazz festival, its core purpose is to provide a diverse range of jazz programming, but also includes music spanning genres such as blues, rock and indie.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Established in 2002, the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival Presented by M&T Bank takes place in June of each year, in Rochester, New York. It is owned and produced by RIJF, LLC, whose principals are John Nugent, Co-Producer and Artistic Director, and Marc Iacona, Co-Producer and Executive Director.
The Istanbul Jazz Festival, formerly Istanbul Festival, is a cultural event held every July in Istanbul, Turkey. It offers a selection of jazz music performances with the participations of famous artists from all over the world. The festival was first held in 1994 and is organized by the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Arts. Its main sponsor is Garanti BBVA.
The Baku International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz event founded and organized by saxophonist and Baku resident Rain Sultanov. The festival aims to showcase Azerbaijan's long-running attachment to jazz, a connection established in the country during the 1950s and 1960s when jazz was outlawed by Soviet authorities. The festival has welcomed musicians from Georgia, Portugal, Italy, Israel, United States, Germany, Canada, and Russia.
Soundstage is an American live concert television series produced by WTTW Chicago and HD Ready. The original series aired for 13 seasons between 1974 and 1985; a new series of seasons began in 2003, with the latest starting in April 2018, each presented in high-definition with surround sound. Some performances have been made available on DVD. The performances are taped on stage at the WTTW television studio in Chicago, as well as large venues throughout the United States.
The Berkeley Jazz Festival is held once a year at the outdoors Hearst Greek Theatre on the University of California, Berkeley campus. The theatre overlooks the San Francisco Bay at Hearst & Gayley Road. The festival was started in 1967 by Darlene Chan.
V.S.O.P : Live Under the Sky is a 1979 live album by the V.S.O.P. Quintet, a record of a performance at the 1979 Live Under the Sky Festival as it was performed live in Japan over two days. The first day, which took place during a furious rainstorm, was broadcast live on national television. The original release featured the first day, while the 2004 re-master/re-release also featured the second concert. This, the fourth VSOP release, once again featured pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, drummer Tony Williams, bassist Ron Carter and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.
The Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park was a recurring music festival held in the summer between 1967 and 1976 at Wollman Rink in New York City's Central Park. It featured a number of notable performances. The sponsorship was taken over by Dr. Pepper in 1977 and the name changed to the Dr. Pepper Central Park Music Festival until the location of the festival was moved to Pier 84 in 1981 and the Wollman Skating Rink ceased being used as a concert venue.
The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education organization founded in 1986. Before 2019, it was known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, but was then renamed after its longtime board chairman, Herbie Hancock.
The Hampton Jazz Festival is a major musical event started in 1968, and features many of the world's major jazz artists. It is held during the last full weekend in June each year, with the primary venue being Hampton, Virginia's Hampton Coliseum. Festival organizers describe it as "the best available jazz, R&B and blues artists that are on tour during the time of the festival... packaged at a reasonable price." In 2024 it was re-branded as the Hampton Jazz & Music Festival, with an emphasis on a broader range of musical acts.
International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." It is celebrated annually on April 30. The idea came from jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. Jazz Day is chaired by Hancock and the UNESCO Director-General. The celebration is recognized on the calendars of both UNESCO and the United Nations.
Jazz Fest Wien or Vienna Jazz Festival is a jazz festival in Vienna, held annually at the end of June and beginning of July since 1991. An international festival, in 2007 it was attended by some 60,000 spectators. It is now considered one of the world's top jazz festivals.
Münchner Klaviersommer was a series of jazz concerts in Munich featuring various famous artists. Despite the name, not only pianists performed in these concerts. The concerts were usually held in July in the Philharmonic Hall Gasteig and they took place from 1981 to 1998. The sequel to the Munich Piano Summer is the Jazz Summer in the Bayerischer Hof at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.
The Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame is part of a US-based non-profit organization that began operations in 1978 and continues to the present (2022) in San Diego County, California. David Larkin is current president.
