Ann Arbor Blues Festival

Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival
Genre	Blues, jazz
Location(s)	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Years active	1969-70, 1972-74, 1992-2006, 2017

In August 1969, several thousand blues lovers gathered in a small athletic field in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival. B.B. King was among the performers who appeared at the first Ann Arbor Blues Festival. In 1972, the festival was expanded to include jazz and it became the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Jazz stars like Miles Davis, Count Basie, Sun Ra, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Yusef Lateef, Ornette Coleman, and Cecil Taylor have played the festival, as well as headliners like Ray Charles, Maceo Parker, Etta James, James Brown, Booker T. & the MG's, Taj Mahal, Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, and Al Green. Though the Festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 2006, efforts are underway to relaunch the festival in the Summer of 2017 under its original name.

Although started with the support of the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival became, over the years, an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c) event, supported by community volunteers working with the city administration.

What began as an outdoor concert became a full weekend of blues and jazz events. In addition to the daytime festival, evenings offered festival-goers a choice of indoor (seated) concerts and live jazz in a club setting. The revived 2017 festival will return to an outdoor setting.

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Wikipedia