The Miami Nice Jazz Festival is a jazz festival scheduled in the city of Miami which is aimed at linking the city of Nice's and Miami's common love of jazz. It is a continuation of the original festival which started in 1948 in Nice, France and is considered to be one of the oldest international festivals of its kind and an important musical reference in jazz.
In 1986, Miami and Nice came together as sister cities. Because of this relation, in the summer of 2011 Philippe Pautesta-Herder had the idea to export this musical event to Miami.
One aim of the festival was to develop their kinship through cultural exchanges between museums and universities in both cities and also through educational exchanges. Because of the bonds between the cities, the festival has received the support from the city of Nice, its mayor, Christian Estrosi, and the city of Miami. The festival has been scheduled to be held at The Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center in downtown Miami on Friday 26th 2012 and Saturday 27th 2012. Artist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be the ambassador of the first edition of the festival. One of the particularity of the festival was that the jazz ensembles from Florida International University school of music and University of Miami school of music has been decided to be presented during the festival preceding the headlining performances.
History
Nice, France has been known for jazz since its inception of its first jazz festival. Created in 1948, it took place in the elegant Opéra de Nice. This was the venue for concerts, one of the early theatres to broadcrast radio.The Nice Jazz festival received its popularity due to big names such as Louis Armstrong, arousing the audience’s enthusiasm.
The next installment of the festival was held 23 years later, in 1971 and 1972 in the Théâtre de Verdure’ and in the Albert I square.
Notable artists were: Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Humes, Pharoah Sanders, T-Bone Walker, Stéphane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt, the Herbie Hancock Quintet, the Oscar Peterson Trio, Roy Eldridge, John Lewis, Al Grey, Percy Heath, Connie Key, Dizzy Gillespie, NHOP, Daniel Humair, Sonny Stitt, Canonball Adderley, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Charlie Mingus, the Max Roach Trio and Miles Davis.
Since the reincarnated festival in 1971, it has been a recurring event each year. Since 2011, the festival has been run by Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice. More than 30,000 visitors attended in 2011.