Jazz Organizers Hopes are Strong Despite Recession

By Alex Crichton

Rochester, NY – For tens of thousands of people, "Jazz Street" will be their destination the next nine days.

That's what Gibbs Street will be called as the eight annual Rochester International Jazz Festival kicks off today, this year under sponsorship from Xerox.

John Nugent is producer and Artistic Director of the festival. He says the event, which attracted 125,000 visitors last year, keeps growing.

"Artists are very anxious to come and play for the audiences here. There's such a great buzz from the audience when they play, and the atmosphere of people moving from venue to venue ... and hearing all different types of styles of creative improvised music is what really is setting this festival apart of others. Not to mention the East End of Rochester with the very close proximately to all the venues, the walking, and just the vibe.

Nugent credits the success of the festival to the caliber of artists that appear here, and says that the festival kicks off Friday night with many great shows, including Smokey Robinson, headlining at the Eastman Theatre.

Jazz Street will be buzzing all nine days of the event, with musicians from 18 countries, performing in over 225 concerts.

Organizers expected a downturn in ticket sales due to the recession, but Nugent says they're pleased with where they're at. He calls ticket sales "respectable.