Labor Day Jazz History - The Gibson Jazz Party
- tbdana
- Posts: 1928
- Joined: Apr 08, 2023
My spouse says the below video sounds like it's from the 1940s, in a bar, where a young man is about to go off to war. In fact, this is from the 1982 Gibson Jazz Party in Colorado.
On Labor Day weekend in 1963, a Colorado jazz fan and businessman named Dick Gibson hosted what he called a 3-day "jazz party" to reinvigorate a waning jazz scene. He invited jazz greats from all over the country. And they came. It was a wild scene, and was so successful the Gibson Jazz Party became an annual event each Labor Day Weekend in Vail, Colorado (later moving to other locations).
Getting invited to play meant you were a star. Getting in to see any of the performances meant you were lucky or in the "in" crowd. Each attendee was issued a button that gave them access to music, food, and drink. The buttons remain treasured collectibles even today.
Performers jammed for three days, sometimes in wild combinations. And every year there were tales of legendary performances where a collection of greats blew audiences away with gestalt performances.
The below video is from 1982. I think someone recorded it on cassette and gave it to Watrous. The sound quality is what probably made my spouse think of the 1940s. But the playing is phenomenal.
Also, I think 1982 was the last year Gibson hosted the party. It has since morphed into something they call the Vail Jazz Festival, but it has lost its mystique and is just another event now. But for the 50 years the Gibson Jazz Party existed, it was a phenomenon.
A little Labor Day jazz history for you, about a 3-day party that invaded Colorado every Labor Day weekend for half a century.
<YOUTUBE id="dHYa2iUP4Jc">https://youtu.be/dHYa2iUP4Jc?si=AZqo99Rz8uAidGvV</YOUTUBE>
On Labor Day weekend in 1963, a Colorado jazz fan and businessman named Dick Gibson hosted what he called a 3-day "jazz party" to reinvigorate a waning jazz scene. He invited jazz greats from all over the country. And they came. It was a wild scene, and was so successful the Gibson Jazz Party became an annual event each Labor Day Weekend in Vail, Colorado (later moving to other locations).
Getting invited to play meant you were a star. Getting in to see any of the performances meant you were lucky or in the "in" crowd. Each attendee was issued a button that gave them access to music, food, and drink. The buttons remain treasured collectibles even today.
Performers jammed for three days, sometimes in wild combinations. And every year there were tales of legendary performances where a collection of greats blew audiences away with gestalt performances.
The below video is from 1982. I think someone recorded it on cassette and gave it to Watrous. The sound quality is what probably made my spouse think of the 1940s. But the playing is phenomenal.
Also, I think 1982 was the last year Gibson hosted the party. It has since morphed into something they call the Vail Jazz Festival, but it has lost its mystique and is just another event now. But for the 50 years the Gibson Jazz Party existed, it was a phenomenon.
A little Labor Day jazz history for you, about a 3-day party that invaded Colorado every Labor Day weekend for half a century.
<YOUTUBE id="dHYa2iUP4Jc">https://youtu.be/dHYa2iUP4Jc?si=AZqo99Rz8uAidGvV</YOUTUBE>
- JTeagarden
- Posts: 625
- Joined: Feb 24, 2025
These kind of events are great, I would have loved to attend the "rent parties" NY jazz musicians used to throw, it seems to be been an absolute breeding ground for new ideas, and a way younger musicians networked as well as honed their skills.