The fourth Charles Mingus Hometown Jazz Festival will take place on both sides of the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora April 20-22, 2012. This will be the 90th anniversary of the birth of jazz great Charles Mingus in Nogales, Arizona. The weekend will begin with a free jazz concert on Friday night in Nogales, Sonora featuring Claudio Roditi, an internationally-known jazz trumpeter. Music fans from both sides of the border will attend this kick-off concert. All day Saturday we will bring a free outdoor festival to the people of southern Arizona featuring high school and college jazz bands with guest artists working with the young musicians. That evening will be the Big Band Gala Concert at the James K. Clark Performing Arts Center at Nogales High School. This concert will feature the US premiere of Kevin Mingus' video tribute to his grandfather, the Santa Cruz Jazz Orchestra with a special guest conductor, and the Big Band Sounds of Green Valley with guest artists. On Sunday, Mingus' 90th birthday, we will hold a Margarita Jazz Brunch at the Esplendor Resort at Rio Rico.
HELP FUND THE CHARLES MINGUS HOMETOWN FESTIVAL & MEMORIAL PARK ON KICKSTARTER
Charles Mingus was born in Nogales, Arizona 90 years ago on April 22. The Santa Cruz Advocates for the Arts is planning the Charles Mingus Hometown Jazz Festival to celebrate his birthday but we need your help to make this festival a fitting tribute to the great jazz bassist and composer. We also are raising funds to establish the Charles Mingus Memorial and Performance Park at the historical site of the entrance Camp Little where Charles' father was stationed in the Army in 1922. The City of Nogales has donated the land and will provide the basic infrastructure and we have some other donations of materials. However, we need to raise several thousand dollars to build the basic monument. Any money we raise above our goal will enhance the park even more. Not only will it be a Memorial with mosaic art designed by the town's mayor and built by local students, it will be a performance facility with a small stage and seating area. We also would like to have a statue and a brass plaque there. We just need this Kickstarter to get it going.
CHARLES MINGUS HOMETOWN FESTIVAL SPONSORS
