By Andrew Knittle
When Jazz in June kicks off this evening in the Brookhaven Village parking lot, it'll mark 25 years for the festival, which is expected to draw more than 50,000 revelers over the next three days.
Free to the public, Jazz in June gets under way tonight at 7 with "Blues Under the Stars," featuring performances by local vocalist Miss Blues and the evening's headlining act Saffire, an all-ladies trio from Virginia. A blues jam session will follow at O'Connell's, 120 E. Lindsey St., from 10:30 p.m. to last call.
Friday night's concert series, at the same location, also begins at 7 p.m. and will feature performances by the Norman North Jazz Choir, Bruce Benson and Studio B and the evening's headliner Barrie Lee Hall Jr. and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Saturday's activities will start off with a free jazz clinic for musicians noon to 4 p.m. at the Norman Institute for the Performing Arts, 2795 Broce Drive.
Andrews Park will host the final day's concert series beginning 6 p.m. Saturday with performances by Joel Young -- the 25th Anniversary Allstars and Jazz in June headliner Chuck Mangione, a Grammy-award winning jazz man who also has a recurring role on Fox's animated series "King of the Hill." A jam session featuring Joel Young -- the Allstars will follow at Sooner Legends Inn and Suites, 1200 24th Ave. SW.
As always, seating will not be provided at any of the events, so concert goers are encouraged to bring a towel or lawn chairs if desired.
Jim Johnson, the program chair, said he wanted to bring Mangione in to give festival goers a chance to hear the artist live--not just on TV or on a recording.
"In 1978 he came out with the huge smash hit 'Feels So Good.' It's the song they say is one of the most recognizable jazz songs ever," Johnson said. "It was kind of like smooth jazz before smooth jazz was even around--it was just huge."
"He probably could have just come up with that one song and retired on it if he wanted to," he added.
Johnson said he started working on Jazz in June as a University of Oklahoma student in 1991 before taking a more active interest in the festival.
"I just used to volunteer with several of my classmates, just kind of participated casually," he said. "But in 1998 I started to put in a lot more time and started to attend most of the meetings they had throughout the year leading up the festival."
Johnson isn't the only person who's stuck around after years and years with Jazz in June.
Karen Holp, KGOU's general manager, has served in just about every capacity -- from program chair to treasurer -- since she joined the team back in 1990.
Holp said Jazz in June, like anything, has a story behind it.
"In '84, a group of people from the Cimarron Circuit Opera Company and the Norman Arts and Humanities Council were apparently sitting around the Service Station having drinks and lamenting that there was no jazz festival in Norman, or the area for that matter," she said.
That year the CCOC and Humanities Council produced the first series of shows, which were held at local bars and smaller venues and drew around 300 people.
"It certainly wasn't what it is now," Holp said.
But it was enough to keep going.
Over the years, changes were made. The days were switched around, the venues changed and grew more centralized, and in 1990 the festival further evolved when it became a nonprofit organization.
And while Jazz in June is more financially stable today than it has ever been before, Holp said things haven't always gone smoothly for the festival.
"I don't remember what year it was, but one year we had a major donor pull out in April, and that really hurt," Holp said. "They had promised money to the festival for the prior six months and here we are, we've raised all the money we thought we needed and then the donor pulled out -- it was rough."
"Fortunately, we had a little in reserve and somehow we were able to pull it out, but that was probably our lowest point," she said.
Holp said another hard time hit in 1988 when an artist backed out at the last minute, leaving Jazz in June with some misleading posters.
"But we found someone else and, like it does, everything turned out fine," she said.
Since its humble beginnings, Jazz in June has gone through numerous changes. It has grown in attendance and it has become more sophisticated in its year-round fundraising efforts.
"We just recently set up an endowment at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation called the Jazz in June Fund," Johnson said. "We're already starting to see a return on it, so we're really excited about that."
As for how Jazz in June has been able to remain so popular over the years, Holp said there are two main reasons.
"The first is that Norman really supports local activities; the people here really like its festivals and fairs in general," she said. "The No. 2 reason is we've been able to keep the shows free to the public. That way they get exposed to music they wouldn't be exposed to otherwise."
For more information about Jazz in June, call 325-2222 or visit www.jazzinjune.org.
Andrew Knittle 366-3527 aknittle@normantranscript.com
