Long Beach Blues Festival

Last updated
Long Beach Blues Festival
LongBeachBluesFestLogo2007.jpg
Long Beach Blues Festival Logo (2007)
Genre Blues
Dates2 days on Labor Day Weekend
Location(s) Long Beach, California, United States
Years active 1980 - 2009
Website http://www.jazzandblues.org/

The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established fully in 1980, [1] and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast (first being the San Francisco Blues Festival). It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. [2] For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. [3] The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.

Contents

The festival was organized and used as a fundraiser by KKJZ, a publicly supported radio station on the CSULB campus broadcasting blues and jazz in Southern California.

History

The former Festival Site at CSULB campus (2003) Long Beach Blues Festival.jpg
The former Festival Site at CSULB campus (2003)
John Lee Hooker performing at the Long Beach Blues Festival, California, August 31, 1997 JohnLeeHooker1997.jpg
John Lee Hooker performing at the Long Beach Blues Festival, California, August 31, 1997

The Festival was set up in 1980 by jazz radio station KLON (later renamed to KKJZ) in Long Beach, California under the direction of Bernie Pearl, [1] who was the host of a blues program "Nothing But The Blues" on KLON at the time. The first Festival was a one-day event titled the "KLON Blues & Gospel Festival" held at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach, drawing only a small crowd of 700, resulting in a loss of $7,000 for the radio station. The Festival grew larger each year, becoming a major fund raising event for KLON. From 1996 through 2000, KLON expanded the event to 3 days utilizing the entire Labor Day weekend. It went back to the 2-day event in 2001 because CSULB wanted Labor Day to clean up the field for their use in the new school semester. The Festival venue for the second Fest and thereafter was the North Athletic Field at Cal State University, Long Beach (CSULB), with the exception of 1992 which was held at Shoreline Aquatic Park in downtown Long Beach, and at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach beginning in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, the Blues Festival went on hiatus because of economic conditions and was replaced with a one-day 'Blues Bash', held at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the CSULB campus. [4]

Past festival lineups

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Grobaty, Tim (May 27, 2009). "Tim Grobaty: At 30, trust Blues fest to be a must-hear". Long Beach, California: Press-Telegram Long Beach, California. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  2. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. p. 219. ISBN   1-85868-255-X.
  3. "KKJZ 88.1 FM presents The Long Beach Blues Festival". LosAngeles.com. Retrieved 2012-06-04.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. Grobaty, Tim (July 8, 2010). "Blues Bash is replacing Long Beach Blues Festival this year". Press-Telegram (Long Beach) . Retrieved 2 August 2010.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Blues Festival</span> Annual music festival in the United States

The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and always occurs in early June. Until 2017, the event always took place at and around Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park, adjacent to the Lake Michigan waterfront east of the Loop in Chicago. In 2017, the festival was moved to the nearby Millennium Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cotton</span> American blues singer-songwriter (1935–2017)

James Henry Cotton was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notodden Blues Festival</span>

Notodden Blues Festival (NBF) is one of the largest blues music festivals in Europe and the largest in Scandinavia. The festival is held in Notodden, Norway, usually the first weekend August. It has been running annually since 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monterey Jazz Festival</span> Annual music festival in California since 1958

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.

The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ace Records (United Kingdom)</span> British record label

Ace Records Ltd. is a British record label founded in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the similarly named label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick Records' pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing and reissuing work. In the 1980s it also gained the licensing for Modern Records, and its follow-up company Kent Records, whilst in the 1990s, the company bought the labels including all original master tapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoo Bar (Lincoln, Nebraska)</span>

The Zoo Bar is a blues music venue and nightclub located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, on 136 North 14th Street. Styled around the Chicago blues clubs, it is a long, narrow venue in a building built in 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Blues Festival</span> American annual music festival

The San Francisco Blues Festival was active from 1973 until 2008, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was the one of the longest running blues festival in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springing the Blues</span> Annual blues festival held in Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Springing the Blues is an annual blues festival held in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. It is one of the largest and oldest blues festivals on the East Coast of the United States. It was first held in 1990 and has been held yearly on the first weekend of April.

Black & Blue Records was a record company and label founded in France in 1968 that specialized in blues and jazz.

The Sarasota Blues Fest was an annual music festival held at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. In addition to all day live entertainment, the festival has vendors selling a wide array of food, drink and crafts.

<i>Blues Summit</i> 1993 studio album by B.B. King

Blues Summit is the thirty-third studio album by B.B. King released in 1993 through the MCA label. The album reached peak positions of number 182 on the Billboard 200, and number 64 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart. The album won a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Bobby Murray is an American electric blues guitarist, songwriter and record producer, who played in Etta James' backing band for 23 years, performed on three Grammy Award winning recordings with James and B.B. King and released four solo albums. In 2011, the Detroit Blues Society granted Murray their Lifetime Achievement Award. Murray currently leads his own band in Metro Detroit and has won several Detroit Music Awards. His latest solo recording, Love Letters From Detroit, was released in 2021 and was granted the Outstanding Blues Recording of the Year at the Detroit Music Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Wagner (DJ)</span> Musical artist

Gary "The Wagman" Wagner is an American disc jockey, radio personality and host of the radio show Nothin’ But The Blues on radio station KKJZ 88.1 in Long Beach, California. The show is broadcast every Saturday from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM, and Sunday from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM PST. KKJZ is a non-commercial public radio station in Southern California broadcasting from the campus of California State University, Long Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharrie Williams</span> American singer-songwriter

Sharrie Williams is an American blues/soul/gospel singer-songwriter.

References