Tag Archives: Live Concert Events

CityScape to Present Weekly Jazz Concert Series in April

Weekly Jazz Concert Series Begins at CityScape In Downtown Phoenix in Advance of Phoenix International Jazz Day

downtown phoenix jazz,central phoenix,real estate,historic districtsFree Outdoor Lunchtime Concert Series Every Tuesday in April Leads Up to April 30 Event

CityScape Phoenix will host a free outdoor lunchtime jazz concert series every Tuesday in April leading up to the 5th Annual Phoenix International Jazz Day on Saturday, April 30.

The series and event is in partnership with The International Jazz Day Foundation and will entertain audiences with a lineup of great local jazz and blues artists who will perform at Patriots Park, located in the center of CityScape, every Tuesday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. With cool spring temperatures and a variety of restaurants at CityScape, it’s the perfect excuse to order lunch to-go and enjoy it outside.

Weekly Jazz Concert Series at CityScape

  • April 5 – The Musical Magic of Doc Jones Ensemble
  • April 12 – The Anthony Pear Project
  • April 19 – Tom Daley & Friends
  • April 26 – Bobby Hamilton
    The free series leads up to the 5th Annual Phoenix International Jazz Day held at CityScape on April 30 from 4pm until 10pm. This same day more than 196 global celebrations take place to celebrate jazz and the role it plays in uniting people around the world. General admission is $25 at the gate and VIP seating is available for $75. Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketlobster.com or 602-268-0600.

Arizona’s own lucky charm trumpeter Jesse McGuire headlines this year’s jazz event, with a surprise special guest to be named later. Famous for his execution of the Star Spangled Banner, Jesse McGuire has performed for three U.S. presidents, and at many major sporting events, most notably game seven of the 2001 World Series when the Diamondbacks defeated the NY Yankees to bring home a victory.

5th Annual Phoenix International Jazz Day Featured Performers

  • Royce Murray – accomplished songwriter whose career includes collaborations with R&B icon Barry White; opening acts for Tony Monaco, Joey DeFrancesco and the legendary Jimmy
  • Smith; and playing organ for ABC, CBS and NBC television soap operas.
  • Dowell Davis – known as “D” to his fellow players, Davis has graced national and international stages with his drumming since 1983. He’s an accomplished artist who has played a variety of musical styles, and has an innate understanding of grooving.
  • Dan Pinson- Born in Phoenix, he has appeared with or opened for Stevie Wonder, Spyrogyra, The Temptations, Beach Boys, Gato Barbieri, Pinson has performed in venues around the world.
  • Carlos Rivas – International Latino jazz artist who has performed throughout the world. He is founder and director of Mex-Sal, one of Arizona’s most prestigious Latin groups.
  • Kerry Campbell – Jazz saxophonist and former member of The Dramatics and famed band War, Campbell has performed with jazz greats Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Joe Sample among others.
  • Loannis Goudelis – Piano “Ioannis Goudelis has performed internationally at festivals, clubs and concert halls throughout the world including the most of the United States, Europe, Africa, Central America and the Pacific.
  • William “Doc” Jones – Jazz saxophonist, keyboard artist, founder of NextStudent Academy and Jaz Day AZ, Doc Jones has performed with Aretha Franklin and The Temptations among others.

For more information, visit www.cityscapephoenix.com. Ample and convenient underground parking is available and validated by restaurants and retailers with purchase.

If you live downtown in or near historic districts like Willo, F.Q. Story, Encanto-Palmcroft or Roosevelt, you can walk or bike to the light rail and get there easily and quickly.

DOWNTOWN PHOENIX LIFE

The City of Phoenix defines Downtown as the area between 7th Street and 7th Avenue, from McDowell Road on the north to Buckeye Road on the south. However, the majority of downtown development is concentrated in the smaller area surrounding the intersection of Washington St. and Central Avenue. Downtown Phoenix is one of a the few major business districts in the city and is the central business district of the City of Phoenix, Arizona.

It’s located in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or ‘Valley of the Sun’ with a large variety of designated historic districts housing some classic, vintage homes attracting people from all walks of life.

Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County and the capital of Arizona, serves as the center of politics, justice and government on the local, state and federal levels. The area is a major center of employment for the region, with many financial, legal, and other national and international corporations housed in a variety of skyscrapers. Major arts and cultural institutions also call the area home. Downtown Phoenix is a center of major league sports activities, live concert events, and is an equally prominent center of banking and finance in Arizona. Regional headquarters for several major banks, including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America, Compass Bank and MidFirst Bank are all located within or close proximity to the area.

A Little History of Downtown Phoenix

Territorial era

In 1870, a meeting was held to select a town site for the influx of pioneers coming to the recently recognized town of Phoenix. 320 acres were purchased for $50 raised by popular subscription. This original site, the whole of the town of Phoenix in that day, encompasses what would presently be the Downtown Core, bordered by Van Buren Street south to Jackson Street, and Seventh Street to Seventh Avenue.

With the first survey of the new town, streets were laid out in a grid, with Washington Street as the main east-west thoroughfare. The north-south streets originally bore Native American tribal names, but were changed to more easily remembered numbers, with everything east of Center Street (later Central Avenue) named as streets and everything west as avenues. The town continued to grow, and was eventually incorporated as a city on February 28, 1881 centered around downtown.

Throughout the 1880’s the newly incorporated city made many strides toward modernization with the construction of one of the first electric plants in the West as well as the opening of the horse-drawn streetcar line. The Phoenix Street Railway system was eventually electrified and expanded to several different lines that connected Downtown Phoenix to other neighborhoods and cities in the Valley. Independence Day of 1887 heralded the arrival first Southern Pacific train. This opened up the economy of the young city, as goods now flowed in and out by train as opposed to wagon. As Phoenix became the center of commerce in the territory, the capital was moved to Phoenix, with temporary offices being set up in Downtown.

The city of Phoenix’s story begins as people from those settlements expanded south, in conjunction with the establishment of a military outpost to the east of current day Phoenix.

The town of Phoenix was settled in 1867, and incorporated in 1881 as the City of Phoenix. Phoenix served as an agricultural area that depended on large-scale irrigation projects. Until World War II, the economy was based on the “Five C’s”: cotton, citrus and cattle, climate and copper. The city provided retail, wholesale, banking, and governmental services for central Arizona, and was gaining a national reputation among winter tourists. The post-World War Two years saw the city beginning to grow more rapidly, as many men who had trained in the military installations in the valley, returned, bringing their families. The population growth was further stimulated in the 1950’s, in part because of the availability of air conditioning, which made the very hot dry summer heat tolerable, as well as an influx of industry, led by high tech companies. The population growth rate of the Phoenix metro area has been nearly 4% per year for the past 40 years. That growth rate slowed during the Great Recession but the U.S. Census Bureau predicted it would resume as the nation’s economy recovered, and it already has begun to do so. While currently ranked 6th in population, it is predicted that Phoenix will rank 4th by 2020. Currently it the 6th most populous city in the United States.

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]