In her editorial this week, publisher Jan Ramsey advocated moving Satchmo SummerFest to Armstrong Park, which is a provocative idea. FQFI, the festival’s producers, would have to find a nearby venue for the seminars because they can’t ask people to walk far in the August heat.
She also argued:
the organization still needs help from the New Orleans and Louisiana state tourism officials because there’s a lot of marketing that needs to take place to take the festival to another plateau. Local hotels need to pitch in to help too, which seems to be a no-brainer because their business will certainly benefit from a festival that attracts an international audience.
That may be true, but FQFI could help as well by doing its part by giving people (international, national and local) more of a reason to attend each year. It has become a ritual to bash the big name artists signed to play Jazz Fest, but those artists are a big part of what distinguishes one year from another, and they’re part of what gives a lineup urgency. Fifteen of the 25 acts that performed at the SummerFest proper (that is, not including the Satchmo Club Strut) played the festival in 2010, and I believe I have typed the names Ricky Riccardi, Dan Morganstern and George Avakian in editorial on the seminars every year that I’ve been in this chair.
It’s a tribute to the concept of Satchmo SummerFest that it draws as well as it does in New Orleans’ oppressive August heat. At a time when Louis Armstrong is in danger of becoming so hazy a cultural touchstone that he can be used to validate almost any artistic impulse, it’s nice to see some flesh, blood and music put back on his bones. It’s also laudible that Satchmo SummerFest provides a showcase for traditional jazz performers at a time when the number of outlets they have are dwindling. Not surprisingly, the performers put on shows that have created a loyal base for the festival to build on.
But FQFI could follow the lead of the Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival, which brings in a few relevant out of town artists to add some immediacy to an event that is otherwise dominated by local blues artists. Better marketing and local cooperation would help, but not as much as making each year more distinctive.
