Thanks from SCJF 2019

It’s been a week since we closed the 2019 Steel City Jazz Festival, seven days to reflect and come to the conclusion that it was awesome! This year’s festival included 3 classic Hamilton venues and 8 shows with over 50 musicians participating.  We had a jazz trio, a full big band and everything in between.  Of course, none of this would have been possible without a long list of people…

Sponsors: Thanks to our sponsors Smordin Criminal Law, Luft Enterprises and NLP Canada, without their financial support we would not have been able to offer as many shows or as diverse a program.

Venues: It was great to finally include The Corktown Pub in The SCJF.  We’ve tried for a couple years and this year we finally got our schedules to line up. Thanks to Jim and his staff for hosting 2 great nights, hopefully the first of many, many more.  It was also great to return to The Pearl Company, thanks to Gary for hosting a great big band night.

The Artword Artbar:  Our home base for the past few years, the beloved venue is now closed.  Not enough can be said about Rod and Judith, the festival would not be what it is today without them and the space they created. Judith and Ron – you and The Artbar have inspired us to keep the Hamilton Scene happening and growing.

Artists: This year’s Artist in Residence, Jason Logue brought A-list players to Hamilton with his sextet and blew the crowd away. Jason followed that up with a stellar performance, sitting in with The Jazz Connection Big Band. Thanks to Jason and all the musicians who performed at this year’s SCJF, Paul Benton, Nick Maclean and Brownman Ali, George Grosman and Brandon Walker, Blunt Object, Waleed Kush African Jazz Ensemble, The Jazz Connection Big Band and ECJ Quintet.

Media: Thanks to Ric Taylor at The View, Graham Rockingham at The Spec, Steve Wallace at The Wholenote and Karim Mosna and Bryan Webb at 101.5fm, The Hawk for helping get the word out about The Steel City Jazz Festival.

Audience: The biggest thank you goes out to the Hamilton jazz fans. Thank you for supporting The Steel City Jazz Festival and live jazz in Hamilton. This year we had approximately 300 individual admissions paid over the 5 days of the festival.

Looking Ahead: We’re already making plans for next year to be bigger and better but we need help!  If you would like to become involved in producing The Steel City Jazz Festival please get in touch with us at steelcityjazzfestival@gmail.com

It’s been an honour and a pleasure directing The 2019 Steel City Jazz Festival, see you all on the scene!

Simon Wheeldon