• Saturday and Sunday April 9-10 2005
• Pensacola JazzFest #22
• Historic Seville Square - Pensacola

Headliners include Jazz Ensemble of the U. S. Navy Commodores led by saxophonist Steve Williams, a Pensacola native; The Boondockers, a California group which performs vintage jazz and comedy; a New Orleans group which includes pianist Chuck Chaplin, vocalist Betty Shirley and saxophonist/flutist Loren Pickford; The Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans, a young group which will perform from the stage as well as lead a second line umbrella parade around Seville Square; and O Som Do Jazz, a Latin group from St. Petersburg, Fl which includes vocalist and a pianist, both Brazilian natives. There will be a youth stage with programs especially geared to those of school age. Some of the headliners will also perform on the youth stage as well as local middle school and high school jazz bands. This is a free festival presented as the Jazz Society’s annual gift to the community. Support from WUWF-FM, Arts Council of NW FL and Florida Arts Council, commercial and individual sponsors makes it possible. Additional sponsors are sought.

Crystal Joy Albert, Performance Chair of the JazzFest said," We are pleased to have such an outstanding line-up of artists for this year's festival. Note also, that three of the headliners-- U. S. Navy Commodores Jazz Ensemble, Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans, and Boondockers-- will also perform on the youth stage. Since all our headliners will be performing each day on the main stages, that means that there will be three opportunities to hear the Commodores Jazz Ensemble, Rebirth and Boondockers. The Umbrella contest and second line parade will be led by the Rebirth Brass Band on Saturday afternoon. Bring your decorated umbrella as there will be a $100 prize for the best decorate umbrella. AND, you can join in the parade around the park whether or not you have an umbrella.

Renee Giles, Chair of the Youth Stage said, " The Youth Stage is in its second year. We will have high school and middle school jazz bands performing plus a group of talented middle school group from Montgomery, AL performing on banjo, guitar and mandolin. This will be their second appearance here. There is also a group from Abraham Baldwin College from Tifton, Georgia performing. As Crystal Joy noted, the Jazz Ensemble of the U. N. Navy Commodores led by native Pensacolian Steve Williams, the Rebirth Brass Band and the Boondockers will also be performing on the Youth Stage. Gold Sponsor for the Youth Stage is Beach Ball Realty. Their staff will be present and helping things to move smoothly on this stage.

Site Manager for this year is Harry Thiel. His charge is to see that things do smoothly with the vendors and the sales staff. Harry remarked, " There will be vendors offering all kinds of good food to eat. We have a new vendor Cornerstone Custard serving gourmet coffees, pastries and their specialty frozen custard-- this is like ice cream, only better. The Jazz Society of Pensacola will have a merchandise tent with CDs, T-Shirts imprinted with this year's poster and other jazz-related items. The poster tent will offer this year's JazzFest poster for sale as well as a few posters from previous years. Some of the previous posters will be available for viewing at the poster tent. There will also be an ATM machine for your convenience. The Jazz Society booths are not set up for taking credit cards, but they will take your personal check."

Thiel mentioned that there is a city ordinance which bans dogs, roller skates, bicycles and skateboards in the park during festival hours. Please bring lawn chairs and young people. It's OK to bring your coolers if desired. However, with the vendors offering a variety of good things and soft drinks, beer and wine available from the sales booths, why would one need to?

Norman Vickers, Volunteer Executive Director of JazzFest said, "This is a rain-or-shine event. If weather forces us inside, we'll moved to Seville Quarter Entertainment Complex about two blocks from our festival site. In the 21 years of JazzFest, we've only moved inside three days, so three out of forty-two days isn't a bad record. This is a very exciting time for us. People come to JazzFest and really listen to the music. Although we have folding chairs for our attendees, if you bring your lawn chair, you are assured of a seat. Be sure to check out the Youth Stage as there are some exciting acts on that stage, too. Fountain Park, site of the Youth Stage, is adjacent to Seville Square, between Zaragoza Street and Main Street. Shelley Lampshire, our face-painting artist will be here again this year. This service is always a crowd-pleaser too.

The Jazz Society has members all over the U. S. as well as Canada. Many patrons schedule their vacations in the Pensacola area in order to attend JazzFest. We have many attendees who come from New Orleans because they like the ambience. They say that it is like what the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival used to be like, before it became so crowded. And besides, ours is a FREE festival. We are grateful for our many sponsors-- Arts Council of Northwest Florida, Florida Arts Council, Beach Ball Realty, WUWF, Independent News, Budweiser, Pepsi, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Cox, WEAR -TV3, Seville Inn, E. W. Bullock & Associates. There are many individuals who have donated to our festival because they want it to happen. The only way we can put on a FREE jazz festival is for the community to come together in this way. The Jazz Society members work hard all year to finance this event, our annual gift to the community."

There will be a jazz session on Saturday night April 9th from 7:30-11:00 at the Pensacola Opera Center, 75 S. Tarragona Street in downtown Pensacola. This is walking distance from Seville Inn and the Festival Site at Seville Square. Admission is by donation. There will be food and beverage service for purchase. As with jazz sessions, you may hear combinations of musicians that you wouldn't hear anywhere else.