Truer to its roots than festivals past, the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Festival that wrapped up last night failed to attract the record crowds of the past two years.
Total attendance for the four-day festival was approximately 8,100, about 3,000 people fewer than last-year’s record-setting festival, which included big draws such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Steve Winwood and the Black Crowes.
This year’s lineup, featuring giants of jazz such as Dianne Reeves and Anita Baker, was “more jazz, soul and R&B and less pop and rock,” Jazz Aspen Snowmass Executive Producer Jim Horowitz said Sunday evening. “The attendance is about what we expected, maybe a little better. But the response has been great, and that’s what counts. Every headliner gave a great performance.”
Approximately half the 3,000-seat tent in Rio Grande Park was filled for Thursday’s show, featuring Reeves and Brazilian bossa nova diva Bebel Gilberto. The most well-attended night was Friday, when 2,400 fans came to see Baker — probably the biggest name in the lineup — and the Manhattan Transfer. Both Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra — Jones is called the female James Brown and Setzer is better known as the leader of the Stray Cats — kept the 2,200-person-strong crowd on its feet. And Horowitz estimated about 2,000 people came to the Sunday night show featuring Los Lonely Boys and the Christian McBride Situation.
Music fans also turned out in force for the JAS Academy bands playing nightly after the main shows at the Crystal Palace Grille — former home of the Crystal Palace dinner theater — which Horowitz pointed out was “built for shows. It’s conducive to live music.”
Jazz-oriented bands also played a free stage on the Cooper Avenue mall and late night at Belly Up nightclub.
“The June festival is a nice fit with Aspen; it’s the more adult-oriented of the two festivals,” said Horowitz, referring to the popular Labor Day festival in Snowmass, which can draw 30,000 concertgoers.
But “quantity doesn’t equal quality,” said Horowitz, pointing out that “some artists just sell more tickets.”
Last year’s record attendance was only slightly more than attendance figures for 2006, when approximately 11,000 people came out to see acts such as Diana Krall, Elvis Costello and Trey Anastasio. The prior attendance record for the June fest was set in 2000.
Horowitz also noted that “obviously, this year it’s a little bit of the economy and a little bit of gas prices.”
About 30 to 40 percent of attendees buy passes to the whole event, rather than single-day tickets.
With regard to the kind of musical mix festival-goers can expect in the future, Horowitz explained that the lineup is always subject to artists’ availability and touring schedules.
“We’ll always put together the best lineup we can,” he said. “Jazz is in our name, so we’re always looking for ways to keep jazz.”
lutz@aspendailynews.com
