Grammy® Winner Diane Schuur and "Soul Goddess" Nona Hendryx to Headline Palm Springs Women's Jazz Festival

Palm Springs, CA, August 6, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The resurgence in Jazz has been taking place over the last few years reflected in the popularity of films like Whiplash and Great Gatsby, TV shows like Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men, plus pop icons like Lady Gaga partnering with Tony Bennett for her album of jazz classics from the American Song book. This resurgence is reflected in the Palm Springs Women's Jazz Festival’s growth of nearly 40% in 2014 and that they see a diverse audience that is excited about jazz and great jazz artists. 

“The artists age-range on stage is reflected in the audience,” says Music Director Sweet Baby J’ai. Over the first two years, festival artists have included Grammy® Winners Terry Lyne Carrington, Patrice Rushen, Tia Fuller, Cindy Bradley and Pamela Williams. 2015 artists include multiple Grammy®​ Winner Diane Schuur (“Deedles’ Blues”)and legendary Nona Hendryx (“Lady Marmalade”).  “We bring together great musicians and we don’t define great by age,” continues Baby Ja’i.

We were very honored to be included in the top ten list this year

Gail Christian, Producer, Palm Springs Women's Jazz Festival

The Palm Springs Women's Jazz Festival was named a top ten festival by music reviewer and critic for the Desert Sun, Bruce Fessier. He released his list of top-ten music festivals in the Coachella Valley on May 12. Coming in at number 5 after just two years under its belt was the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival, just behind the 22-year-old Idyllwild Jazz Festival and juggernaut festivals Coachella and Stagecoach. “We were very honored to be included in the top ten list this year,” says Gail Christian, festival producer. The buzz from the first year grew audiences by nearly 40% last year, and early ticket sales for the third annual event in October are already ahead of 2014.

Being in Palm Springs was important to the festival producers. “We’ve been approached by other cities to take the festival elsewhere, but we feel like Palm Springs is the place to be. It has a long history with music and, like Jazz, it is on a resurgence and we hope to be here for many years to come,” continues Christian. Christian is also a resident of Palm Springs and is happy to highlight the city she calls home.

The Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival will take place October 9-11, 2015 in Palm Springs, California. Venues include the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs Art Museum. The festival is a production of L&G Events. For details about the festival visit PSWomensJazzFestival.com or call  760-416-3545.