Red Sea Jazz Festival

[B. Goren.]

It all began in 1987. A group of Jazz enthusiasts were set to start a major Jazz festival in Israel. Yossi Frost, then head of the Israeli Council of the Arts, Raffi Hochman Mayor of Eilat,Yigal Sason of Israel Discount Bank a sponsor of arts, Avi Ifrah a producer of art events and Dan Gottfried Israel's prominent Jazz pianist and educator. They all were of the same opinion, that time was ripe to start a big and prestigious international Jazz festival and that Eilat was the right place for this event.

The first assignment was to locate a site. Avi Ifrach pointed out the Port of Eilat as the ideal location. Although his suggestion was received initially with skepticism, he insisted. In his imagination, he envisioned the docks of the Port bubbling with music, artists and people, and he succeeded in convincing the Port Authorities as well as the Zim, the Israeli shipping company. Everybody then joined in – the City of Eilat, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Israel Discount Bank, The Ministry of Tourism, Eilat's Hotel Association, The Tourism Association of Eilat and the Eilat Foundation, and many others since.

Avi Ifrah, appointed as the festivals' producer together with Dan Gottfried, appointed as the festival's artistic director, went to work and came up with an agenda for the first festival – it will be a four-night festival, its program will be varied and will encompass all streams and styles of jazz, the festival will present some 50 concerts, by foreign as well as Israeli jazz bands, the concerts will be presented on four stages, in "halls" constructed out of sea-containers. After the official program, a jam session will be held each night, free of charge.

The First Festival Saturday night, October 31, 1987, 18:00 – the first Red Sea Jazz Festival opens with the sounds of Tito Puente's salsa band. Tito is joined afterwards by Michael Brecker, Ronnie Cuber, Red Rodney, Dave Liebman and many others. The top Israeli jazz bands head south to Eilat to perform, for the first time, in such a impressive framework. Jazz films are screened in the main square of the festival, courtesy of the American Embassy. The Festival's budget barely covers production costs. All participating artists, Israeli and foreign, are motivated by a pioneer spirit and perform without fees. The press celebrates with huge headlines – the new age of jazz in Israel. But the first festival is a commercial failure – bad weather and a strike in the national radio and television do not help audience attendance. Yet the founders are pleased. The exciting artistic program, the very special atmosphere, the warm and rewarding audience and the supportive press all prove that there is a huge potential. Everyone is set to work on the next international jazz festivals in the Port and the following editions were already held in the last week of August.

Today, 17 years after, the Red Sea Jazz Festival is a success story with international dimensions. Over the years, the Festival has established itself as a unique phenomenon, as the best festival in Israel and as one of the best festivals in the world.

This is with justification – each and every year since its inception the Festival adheres to the guidelines that have made it what it is today - meticulous attention to details, big and small, long-term strategic planning and devotion to its concept while at the same time moving forward and re-inventing itself towards progress.

The Festival has generated an enormous increase of the circle of jazz fans in Israel, and its audience attendance has doubled every year from a mere few hundreds in the first festival, to an audience of thousands, coming from all over Israel and planning their yearly summer vacation according to the dates of the festival.

Moreover, its reputation is well established with international jazz artists, who marked this event as one of the prime places of performance.

Last time when I went to this festival was in 1995. During the past 9 years there were no attractions that could justify the investment of time & money. This year, for change, some first league artists are coming:

THE WALT WEISKOPF NONET: Walt Weiskopf - Tenor Saxophone, Jim Snidero - Alto Saxophone, Scott Robinson - Baritone Saxophone, Joe Magnarelli – Trumpet, Conrad Herwig – Trombone, Charles Pillow – Flute, David Hazeltine – Piano, Doug Weiss – Bass, Billy Drummond – Drums

CHARLES LLOYD Featuring

Charles Lloyd – Saxophone, flute, Geri Allen – Piano, Eric Harland – Drums, Reuben Rogers – Bass

THE CHARLIE HADEN AND JOHN SCOFIELD DUO

Charlie Haden – Bass, John Scofield – Guitar

Personally, I would like to see Haden cooperating with Geri Allen instead of Scofield.

Unfortunately I have some other commitments (to my boss and to my wife, my other boss) so the jazz fans coming to Eilat and the artists will have to get along without me.

Edited July 18, 2004 by B. Goren.

[Guest youmustbe]

Nice lineup.

I had Lloyd there in 95 with Dave Holland and Idris Muhammad (Billy Higgins was too sick to do it).

In 94 I was there with my American Diary band, Lovano, Mainieri, Gomez and Hart.

Very interesting visit, but I had a miserable time there. The food was awful. It was too hot. The whole place smelled like an open toilet.

[Free For All]

I played at the Red Sea Fest twice in the mid nineties and had a wonderful time. Yes, it was hot (I had to cover the mouthpiece on my horn when it was sitting on the stand, otherwise it would get really hot!!) but my impression was that it was very clean and modern (especially compared to Cairo, which we visited after the festival to see the Pyramids, etc.). It was interesting, they would stack up those overseas shipping containers to make stages and isolate performance areas.

And I thought the food was excellent- I got some excellent falafel, among other things. And the people were great.

It was weird getting used to all the security personnel w/automatic weapons everywhere. It's funny, now that wouldn't be as much of a shock. Interesting how our perspective has changed from the mid 90s. Back then I thought "I'm glad we don't live like this in the US!". What a difference 10 years has made.

But cheers to the Red Sea Festival!

[White Lightning]

Nice lineup.

I had Lloyd there in 95 with Dave Holland and Idris Muhammad (Billy Higgins was too sick to do it).

In 94 I was there with my American Diary band, Lovano, Mainieri, Gomez and Hart.

Very interesting visit, but I had a miserable time there. The food was awful. It was too hot. The whole place smelled like an open toilet.

I was there that year. Saw The Lloyd-Hollad shaw and became a huge fan of Dave Holland as a result.

The weather there was unbearable in 95. it was sooooooooo hot, dry and breezy. I felt like walking inside a turbo-oven... How can people stand such weather????

I don't like Eilat as well. I mean the scenery is incredible, but the town itself is a tourist trap. I hate places like that - where you feel that everyone is either a tourist or a service provider. No "real people".

I felt the same on the west part of South Island, New Zealand (the weather was a bit cooler, though...).

[Guest youmustbe]

Best part...after the festival, driving back at night to Tel Aviv thru the desert, and cresting a hill as the sun came up.