Staff Picks Genre Study - Jacksonville Jazz Festival: A Jacksonville Tradition and an American Celebration
Just as it was once a central location for the film industry before there was a Hollywood, Jacksonville was a sister city to New Orleans in ushering in the age of jazz. Before the suburbs expanded and Jacksonville grew to the county-wide residential area it is today, the vibrant downtown area between Ashley and Broad Street was known as the Harlem of the South. The heart of the jazz scene in north Florida, it would host the biggest names of the day and see the emergence of up and coming jazz artists such as Ray Charles.