Scores of jazz fans are expected to stream into Philadelphia later this month for the nation’s first LGBT jazz festival.
The OutBeat Jazz Festival will run from Sept. 18-21. The first three days of the celebration will include performances and discussions, culminating in the day-long festival finale at Union Transfer Sept. 21.
The event is staged by William Way LGBT Community Center, made possible through a grant by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
Center development director Michael Pomante said the grant-application process started two years ago. Once the center was selected for the funding, it hired Mark Christman, founder of Ars Nova Workshop, as the project coordinator and DL Media to spearhead marketing.
There will be 35 performers showcased in the festival, and Pomante said 1,500-2,500 people are expected to attend.
Performers hail from such cities as Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Baltimore and New York City. Pomante said audiences are expected to hail from the tri-state area, New York City, Boston and the West Coast.
The festival starts with a free conversation with Fred Hersch, led by New York Times’ Nate Chinen at William Way, 1315 Spruce St., at 5 p.m. Sept. 18, followed by the kickoff reception at 6 p.m. in the center’s ballroom featuring Dena Underwood. Reception tickets are $100.
A VIP reception at 5 p.m. the next day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., kicks off the 5:45 p.m. performance at the same location by the Fred Hersch Trio. At 8:30, there will be a tribute to the late Billy Strayhorn at Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St.
Bill Stewart and Patricia Barber will take part in a free discussion moderated by JazzTimes’ John Murph at 5 p.m. Sept. 20 at Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., followed by a performance by the Stewart Quartet at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., Terri Lyne Carrington will present “Money Jungle” at Chris’ Jazz Café, 1421 Sansom St.
Sunday’s finale kicks off at 1 p.m. and will run until 10 p.m. at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St.
“It will feature over a dozen performers, like Terri Lyne Carringon, who’s a Grammy Award winner, and Fred Hersch, who’s a Grammy nominee,” Pomante said. “These are the best of the best of LGBTQ jazz performers.”
Union Transfer holds 1,200, and Pomante said organizers are anticipating a full house.
“We’re really hoping to fill Union Transfer,” he said. “There will be vendors outside to give it a real festival vibe and vendors inside, and food trucks, so it’s going to be a good time.”
Pomante said the festival is designed to educate about the role jazz tradition has played on modern music, and the role LGBTQ performers have played on the development of jazz music.
“We want this to be an intergenerational experience. For some of the younger demographic who haven’t necessarily explored jazz yet, there’s panel discussions that really talk about the way that jazz and blues heavily influences music today, in terms of hip-hop, rap, R&B. A lot of the music we listen to today and what’s popular on the radio was born from jazz and blues traditions and we want to highlight that,” Pomante said, noting that the festival also challenges conventional notions of jazz performers. “People often take a heteronormative view of jazz, thinking it’s male- and straight-dominated. But for instance, Billy Strayhorn who’s no longer with us, was considered Duke Ellington’s right-hand man. And women artists will be talking about the differences in acceptance 30 years ago versus now in terms of having female band leaders and so on. We’re going to look at the influence LGBTQ artists had over the history of jazz.”
Tickets can be bought to each day’s events, as a weekend pass or as a VIP pass. For more information, visit www.outbeatjazzfestival.com.