Concert promoter Joe Cleveland has seen to it that fans of smooth jazz don’t have to travel out-of-state for an all-day festival if they don’t want to.
Which is good, because the genre has taken a lot of hits in recent years, becoming harder to access, either through live performances and recordings. Many conglomerate radio stations have all but dropped the mellow, Kenny G-type music from their formats.
“That’s why you don’t see a lot of new artists performing smooth jazz,” said Kevin Koch, drummer for Fattburger, the Atlanta Smooth Music Festival’s headlining band. Fans tend to skew older as well, ranging from 35 to 75, Cleveland said.
Four years ago, Cleveland founded the festival, which is inspired by his love for smooth jazz and his trips to the Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Panama City, Fla.
“You don’t find many outdoor, all-day music festivals that aren’t near water,” Cleveland said. “They’re usually geared toward vacationers. But after talking to promoters, we found it fascinating that half the attendees coming to Florida were from Atlanta. So we thought, why not give them a fall alternative to the spring festival?”
The festival’s first year drew the Rippingtons and this year, Fattburger is another monolith of smooth jazz, which can be described as a blend of R&B and jazz that consists mostly of instrumentals.
“We were the first ones to be coining the phrase smooth jazz,” Koch said. “We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
San Diego-based Fattburger has been on the scene since the mid-1980s and has recorded some 17 albums. One of their most notable albums is the 2004 release "Work to Do!"
“We wanted to present artists fans recognize and also allow them to see newer artists they might not be familiar with,” Cleveland said. The bill also includes Nick Colionne, Steve Oliver, Jackiem Joyner and Jeff Sparks. "Each year we try to dig deep to bring people to Atlanta who seldom come here.
"There are so many music festivals in this city. We try to reach outside that group for something different."
Gates open at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and the show starts at 1:30 p.m. Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre, 5329 Floyd Road, Mableton. Tickets start at $30. Bring picnics or purchase food from vendors. Leave lawn chairs at home. Rain or shine. www.smoothjazzgrooves.com.
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