{{Coord, 33, 31, 14, N, 86, 48, 8, W, display=title The Taste of 4th Avenue Jazz Festival is a one-day jazz festival which has been presented annually since 2003 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

's Historic 4th Avenue District downtown. In past years, it was sponsored by the

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and dis ...

(AJHoF) and Urban Impact. Beginning in 2011, the festival was presented by Magic City Smooth Jazz. The event offers jazz music, food, swing dance lessons and exhibits, and presents nationally known jazz artists and local jazz artists.

2011 Performers

The 2011 festival was held on September 24, this year presented by Magic City Smooth Jazz. The lineup of performers was as follows: *2:00pm – 2:45pm Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Student All Stars, directed by

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO of ...

*3:00pm – 3:45pm Bo Berry *4:00pm – 4:45pm Neo Jazz Collective *5:00pm – 5:45pm

Cleveland Eaton Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accompl ...

& the Alabama All Stars *6:00pm – 6:45pm Darryl Evan Jones *7:00pm – 7:45pm Jose's Jazz Quintet *8:00pm – 9:30pm Paul Taylor

2008 Performers

The 2008 festival was held on September 27. The lineup of performers included: Donald Witherspoon as

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

, th
Neo Jazz Collective
On Purpose, Daniel Jose Carr, the Birmingham Heritage Band, Tekneek, Ona Watson, Dee Lucas, trumpeter

Lew Soloff Lewis Michael Soloff (February 20, 1944–March 8, 2015) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and actor. Biography From his birth place of New York City, United States, he studied trumpet at the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard Sc ...

and the

Quartet (with

on bass), guitarist

Eric Essix The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

with Joey Sommerville and violinist Michael Ward.

2007 Performers

The 2007 festival was held on September 29 and about 6,000 people were in attendance. It began with an opening parade at

Kelly Ingram Park Kelly Ingram Park, formerly West Park, is a park located in Birmingham, Alabama. It is bounded by 16th and 17th Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues North in the Birmingham Civil Rights District. The park, just outside the doors of the 16th Street Ba ...

with Mayor

Bernard Kincaid Bernard Kincaid (born June 5, 1945) is an American politician who is the former Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, elected in 1999. In 2007 he was defeated in a bid for re-election, winning only 8% of votes. He was succeeded by Larry Langford. Early ...

and Councilman

William A. Bell William A. Bell Sr. (born June 1, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 33rd mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, from 2010 to 2017. He had previously held the office on an interim basis in 1999. Prior to that, he had served several term ...

officiating. Music began at 2:00 pm and continued until midnight. Featured performers included Jose Carr, The

Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Youth Ensemble (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,76 ...

Jerome Chapman Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

, vocalis
Annie Sellick
with

and

Foxxy Fatts & Co Foxxy may mean: *Foxxy Cleopatra ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmem ...

Gary Motley Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

, Dee Lucas, Ronnie Laws, Debra Laws,

Donald Witherspoon Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

as "Billy Ocean" and the Birmingham Heritage Band. The festival also featured work by urban artists, a swing tent, and a re-creation of the

Little Savoy Juke Joint Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

2006 Performers

The 2006 festival was held on September 23, the same weekend as the

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival The Sidewalk Film Festival is an annual film festival taking place during the last weekend in August in the Theatre District of Birmingham, Alabama, since 1999. The festival typically screens at seven venues located within downtown Birmingham, fea ...

. It began with a New Orleans style parade at 1:00 PM and continued with the New Orleans All-Stars,

Tommy Stewart Tommy Stewart is an American drummer, currently for the rock band Lo-Pro. He is probably best known for his stint with the band Godsmack. He has also toured and recorded with a number of other bands including Detroit based metal band Halloween, ...

Ray Reach and Friends

Rolando Matias & the Afro Rican Ensemble Rolando may refer to: Entertainment *''Rolando'', a 2008 puzzle-adventure video game *'' Rolando 2: Quest for the Golden Orchid'', a 2009 puzzle-adventure video game *"Rolando", a song by Roland Kirk from the album ''Domino'' People *Rolando (giv ...

featuring Bobby Matos,

Johnny O'Neal Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced ...

, Dee Lucas, the Birmingham Heritage Band, and

as "Billy Ocean." Other activities included a swing-dancing tent, a children's area, and food and gift vendors.

References

* Singleton, William C. (September 30, 2007) "Jazz lovers get a full taste at 4th Avenue Festival." ''Birmingham News''.

2011 Performers

2008 Performers

2007 Performers

2006 Performers

References

External links