More than just jazz
Artie Shaw Orchestra to headline 2010 Integrity Jazz FestivalBy DAN FELDNER, Staff Writer dfeldner@minotdailynews.com
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Plans are well under way to make next year's Integrity Jazz Festival the biggest and best yet, and a charitable organization is once again helping to bring the classic American musical style to Minot.
The Minot Area Council of the Arts, which holds the Integrity Jazz Festival, received a $1,000 grant from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation. Terri Aldrich, executive director of MACA, said this is the second year in a row the railroad foundation has given a grant for the jazz festival. Last year they received a grant for $2,500 and decided to apply again this year, receiving $1,000.
"Burlington Northern Santa Fe Foundation is an outgrowth of the work of the railroad that is such a wonderful part of our community here. And one of the pieces in their grant is that they want to support things that enhance the quality of life of their employees," Aldrich said. "And certainly a jazz festival is a wonderful piece, providing quality, family-friendly entertainment that truly enhances quality of life for Burlington Northern employees and also for the whole of Minot."
Aldrich said it probably takes more than $30,000 to hold the festival each year so the grant is a big help in meeting those costs. She said the money from the grant will be used primarily toward artist fees and promotion.
Next year's Integrity Jazz Festival will be held June 19 at Roosevelt Park from 1 to 8 p.m.
The big headline act at next year's festival will be the Artie Shaw Orchestra, named after legendary jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw, who died in 2004.
"The Artie Shaw Orchestra is one is of those world-famous big bands, and (next) year is the 100th anniversary of Artie Shaw's birth so it's a great time to have the Artie Shaw Orchestra there," Aldrich said. "(It's) one of the few of the big bands that are working steadily."
Aldrich said the importance of this orchestra working together steadily can't be understated, as the members have had time to work together and perfect a harmonious sound. This is a trait shared by the headline act at this year's festival in June, the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
"They're (Artie Shaw Orchestra)playing together all the time, so their harmonies and their artistry is at such a high level of excellence, and it's a style and a type of jazz that everyone can connect with," Aldrich said. "So it's something that truly is intergenerational because we see that there are (younger) people that love the idea of doing swing dancing and, of course, there are people in their 60s and 70s that that's the music they grew up with that's the music that they fell in love to."
While younger people might not know the name, they probably know the music. Aldrich said the Artie Shaw Orchestra has some big hits, including "Begin the Beguine," that just about everyone would know and other fabulous tunes people will probably recognize by melody, if not by name.
"They also do new and modern tunes with arrangements that just kind of keep with those historic jazz traditions," Aldrich said. "So it's a great opportunity to bring them in, and their level of excellence is just second to none."
Along with big-name talent, the festival will also once again include the Youth Spotlight feature, a 5k run, performances from talented local and regional jazz musicians, artist and artisan booths and food vendors. Also returning will be the stage skirting created by area schoolchildren which Aldrich plans to expand next year.
"We're going to keep with the idea of having a Youth Spotlight feature because we want to encourage young people to find out about this wonderfully, uniquely American art form," Aldrich said. "Jazz is truly an American art form. It was born in the United States and it's something that we want to encourage in our young people."
While they are sticking to the blueprint that has made the festival a success in each of its first two years, Aldrich said they are trying to slowly expand the entertainment options so more people will hopefully be enticed to check things out.
Juggler Jason Huneke, who has performed at Arts in the Parks in the past, had to cancel because of a scheduling conflict but that hasn't deterred Aldrich from pursuing more entertainment options for the festival.
"We may still explore that possibility. We're going to have more artists, I think I have found someone to do caricatures which will be a fun thing," she said. "So, yes, we will indeed stick to the blueprint of what has worked but we want to add some new things too."
Including the 5k run, attendance at the 2009 festival was around 850, a 30 percent increase over last year. For the third festival in 2010, Aldrich is shooting for a 15 percent attendance increase which has her aiming for around 1,000 people.
Judging from the response to the festival this year that is certainly an attainable goal. During this year's festival paper and online surveys were collected to see what attendees thought of things, and everyone who completed a survey had nothing but glowing remarks.
"It's very affirming to have ... out of all those people that submitted paper surveys and the online ones, 100 percent said they had enjoyed the festival and that they would like to return again," Aldrich said. "That's pretty exciting."
