http://outbeatjazzfestival.com http://waygay.org On September 18 through 21, 2014 in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, USA - OUTBEAT JAZZ FESTIVAL took place: America's First Queer Jazz Festival Seen here are just three of the voices that came from the festival: Jazz critic Nate Chinen, New York Times & JazzTimes Pianist-composer & local Philadelphian Dene Underwood Vocalist Jaye Sanders, also a local Philadelphian (both Jaye & Dena are also members of other jazz associations & projects in Philly). The idea of Chris Bartlett - Executive Director of The William Way LGBT Center in Philadelphia - this jazz festival was created to present some of the more well known - and, the not-so-well-known - jazz musicians who identify as either Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Trans. Generous financial support came from The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, while The Philadelphia Jazz Project was a sponsored project of The Painted Bride Art Center with funding provided by The Wyncote Foundation. It can be argued that the jazz genre is very homophobic among the genres of the music world, and there are very few who are 'out' and identify proudly in this industry. This event then can be heralded as being an historic one that was important to catch on video so that whoever can see this can see a sampling of the wide variety of styles within jazz that are represented herein. Both national and local-to-Philadelphia jazz musicians took part in this festival that included speaking panels and concerts taking place in seven venues across town over four days, with the final day being an all-day affair that began at 1pm and went until 11pm. Here's a post-festival article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lew-whittington/outbeat-the-nations-1st-g_b_5861254.html

• published: 27 Sep 2014
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