A collection of the most beloved and well-known jazz clubs on the East Coast have banded
together for the first time ever to create the inaugural East Coast Jazz Festival, which will take
place online on Saturday, March 20 th from 5 to 11 p.m. The proprietors of Scullers Jazz Club in
Boston, Smalls and Birdland in New York, Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia, Keystone Korner in
Baltimore and Blues Alley in Washington, DC began planning this all-virtual jazz fest at the start
of 2021, and the music will flow live with some pre-recorded sessions mixed in from six
different stages, and will showcase the talents of more than 60 of the most renown and respected
jazz talents of our time.
“It’s a musical first, but one that was needed in order to shake up the jazz world and keep the
importance of saving our stages foremost in the minds of audiences around the country,”
explained Mark DeNinno, Chef/Owner of Chris’ Jazz Café. “We recently celebrated a major
milestone – 32 years of continuously operating in Philly -- 2021 marks the 56th continuous year
for Blues Alley, and the other jazz clubs have been around even longer, but their continued
survival will not be possible if we don’t unite and conceptualize creative ways to ‘ride out’ the
coronavirus storm that has decimated the live music industry. We all agreed, as owners of these
struggling venues, that we had to do something to keep the live music going and the awareness
alive, and this is ‘that something’.”
Harry Schnipper, Executive Director of Blues Alley calls the first annual ECJF a collective
cauldron of collaborative creativity. “We have selected three of the jazz world’s most talented
pianists to participate as we continue to complement our club colleagues on this historic
initiative. The theme of this year’s event is unity or ‘e pluribus unum; in jazz we trust.’”
"This is a very special opportunity to collaborate with these preeminent jazz venues,” said Jan
Mullen, Artistic Director, Scullers Jazz Club. “Scullers Jazz Club is excited and honoured to be a
part of this inaugural festival! In these extraordinary times we all recognise the value and power
of music."
“Birdland is thrilled to participate in the first ECJF and we hope it becomes an annual event. Not
only has the pandemic challenged us and our fellow clubs to accelerate and refine our streaming
concert programs, to the benefit of our fans, but the circumstances have also enabled us to
program a stunning scope and diversity of artists -- otherwise nearly impossible to hear in one
evening,” noted Ryan Paternite, Director of Programming & Media, Birdland Jazz Club &
Birdland Theater.
“Our music can be an indispensable spiritual life raft for our turbulent times when we need more
sharing and caring than ever. May this important ECJF collaboration be just the beginning of an
ever-growing process and practice of team work to make the dream work,” said Todd Barkan,
NEA Jazz Master / Keystone Korner Baltimore.
Online guests will be able to flip back and forth from one venue to another to check out each
club’s shows.
Here is the impressive lineup for ECJF:
Chris' Jazz Cafe
SmallsLIVE Foundation
Keystone Korner
Blues Alley
Birdland (taped)
Scullers (taped)
The price to listen to five hours of unmatched, exhilarating jazz from a choice of six different
venues is “pay-what-you-wish.” Please visit https://bit.ly/ECJF0320 to pre-
register.
To learn more about Chris’ Jazz Café, please visit https://www.chrisjazzcafe.com; learn
more about SmallsLive by visiting https://www.smallslive.com;
Learn more about Keystone
Korner by visiting https://www.keystonekornerbaltimore.com; learn more about Blues Alley by
visiting https://www.bluesalley.com;
Learn more about Birdland by visiting
https://www.birdlandjazz.com; and learn more about Scullers Jazz Club by visiting
https://scullersjazz.com.