Jazz fans across the Valley are preparing for stellar three-day celebration of the genre during the annual Arizona Jazz Festival as it triumphantly returns to High Street this spring. This festival takes place March 22-24, 2024, bringing a fantastic line-up of over 20 bands and musicians to High Street. From iconic jazz legends to contemporary favorites, the festival promises a diverse and eclectic musical experience. Among this year’s headlining acts and featured artists are Charlie Wilson, Keith Sweat, Jodeci, Babyface, Anthony Hamilton, Teddy Swims, Robin Thicke, and more artists yet to be announced. In addition to the amazing musical lineup, the Arizona Jazz Festival features a variety of food and drink vendors for attendees to enjoy all weekend while they savor each performance. For more information, visit https://azjazzfest.com/
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 The Arizona Jazz Festival on High Street is back for another year of jazz celebration.
00:06 Here to tell us all about it is saxophonist Jay White, who knows that people think the
00:11 trumpet or something is sexy, but it's the saxophone that does it.
00:14 It's the sax, man.
00:15 It speaks for itself, man.
00:16 It's the sax.
00:17 I love it.
00:18 Okay.
00:19 First, before we start, let's remind people where High Street is and then we'll get into
00:21 it because we were talking about that.
00:24 Where's High Street?
00:25 So it's all the way down to 101, right at 56th Street exit.
00:28 So you got about 30 miles down to 101.
00:30 It's right near the top of Scottsdale.
00:32 Yeah.
00:33 So right there where you pretty much go up, you'll go north.
00:34 It's this area that you look out and you go, "Okay, where's that?"
00:37 But it's a lot going on.
00:38 There's restaurants.
00:39 There's like a little grocery store, all kinds of stuff there.
00:41 And that is where the Jazz Festival is this year.
00:43 Absolutely.
00:44 Great to be back, which is really nice.
00:45 And the lineup, wow.
00:48 I mean, this is amazing.
00:49 It's crazy.
00:50 So we got Rod and Thick.
00:51 Yeah.
00:52 We got, if you like '90s R&B, we got Jodeci.
00:54 Oh my God.
00:55 SWV, En Vogue.
00:56 And?
00:57 And Babyface.
00:58 Babyface.
00:59 Babyface.
01:00 You can't forget about Babyface.
01:01 Yeah.
01:02 Which is really nice.
01:03 And you're performing too, which is really nice.
01:04 I am performing Friday night.
01:05 So I'm going to have my band.
01:06 It's going to be high energy, electric, soulful.
01:09 And I'm excited to be back on the festival.
01:11 And what I love about this festival, it brings a lot of people together from the community
01:14 and different things to enjoy this amazing music, as Lexi was saying, her husband plays
01:19 and he loves it too.
01:20 So what brings people and jazz together?
01:22 Well, it's just a good time.
01:23 I mean, it doesn't offend anybody.
01:24 Jazz is universal.
01:25 It's been around since the '20s.
01:27 And so anybody can appreciate it.
01:29 I don't care where you're from, what background you have.
01:32 It's just good music, good time.
01:33 Yeah.
01:34 And out there, it's supposed to be a nice weekend.
01:35 And again, it's throughout the weekend, it's really nice.
01:38 And is it just one stage or different stages?
01:39 There's two stages.
01:40 So they have a main stage and they have a jazz stage.
01:42 So you got Tyra Power on the jazz stage.
01:44 Miss Boney James is going to be in the house.
01:46 Oh my God.
01:47 Eric Darius.
01:48 And then once again, you're a Shuley on the house Friday night.
01:49 So it's going to be awesome.
01:50 I love this.
01:51 And bringing it back here, I mean, we know it's been off and on for different reasons.
01:54 Yeah.
01:55 You know, they had to stop and then they started bringing back people back outside,
01:58 which is really nice.
01:59 And again, bring people from all over the place.
02:01 We were talking because we're both Michigan boys.
02:03 Detroit in the house.
02:04 Detroit in the city.
02:05 I mean, you should be doing, of course, you know, Motown music, but you're doing jazz.
02:08 Was that something you always...
02:09 Well, it's all the same.
02:10 You know, my uncles played for Motown.
02:11 They were both musicians and that's how I got started.
02:13 It's kind of following in their footsteps.
02:15 So you know, Motown kind of follows the jazz era anyway.
02:18 So it kind of just goes hand in hand.
02:20 So there it is right there.
02:21 Okay.
02:22 Let's remind people again.
02:23 It's this weekend, Friday.
02:24 What time, do you remember?
02:25 Well, it's 12-15.
02:26 It's the first performance.
02:27 Okay.
02:28 And so from 12-15 all the way through 10 p.m. at night.
02:31 So it's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend on High Street.
02:35 And go to azjazzfestival.com.
02:36 Azjazzfest.com to get your tickets.
02:39 There you go.
02:40 And you have to, and they're going to go fast, especially with Robin Thicke in town, Babyface,
02:43 Jodeci.
02:44 I mean, it's all there.
02:45 Right there.
02:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]