This July, the festival makes its boldest move yet — a four-day celebration at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, headlined by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Tower of Power. Every performance is free.
In October 1982, Frank Malfitano packed a crowd into Oliver’s, a club on Erie Boulevard East, for what he called a jazz showcase. No corporate sponsors. No outdoor stages. Just a room full of people who wanted to hear live music in Syracuse.
Forty years later, that one-night experiment has become the Syracuse International Jazz Fest — one of the largest and longest-running free jazz festivals in the United States. According to the festival’s organizers, Syracuse now joins a short list of cities worldwide — alongside Newport, Montreal, Montreux, and North Sea — whose jazz festivals have reached the 40-year mark.
This July 9 through 12, the festival makes its most dramatic move since going free in 1991: a four-day celebration split between the Syracuse University campus and Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards in LaFayette, headlined by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Tower of Power.
Five Homes in 40 Years
The festival’s path reads like a road map of Central New York itself. After that debut at Oliver’s, Malfitano staged the 1983 edition outdoors at Song Mountain in Tully, where temperatures hit 95 degrees and The Heath Brothers, Mose Allison, and Kevin Eubanks played through the heat. From 1985 to 1990, it settled at Long Branch Park in Liverpool, where it grew but never quite broke through.
The turning point came in 1991. Heavy rain, paid admission, and logistical problems had driven the previous year’s attendance down to about 2,000. Malfitano made a decision that would define the festival for three decades: he moved it to Clinton Square, dropped the ticket price to zero, and bet that downtown Syracuse could hold a world-class music event.
It could. By 2000, single-night crowds at Clinton Square peaked at 35,000. Over the decades, the stage welcomed Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Chaka Khan, and B.B. King, among dozens of others.
When construction delays forced a move to Onondaga Community College in 2001, the multi-stage campus format attracted even larger audiences. OCC became the festival’s longest-running home through 2017.
Then came a five-year silence. The festival went dark from 2018 to 2021 — a hiatus that predated the pandemic but was extended by it. When Jazz Fest returned to Clinton Square in 2022, the relief was audible.
The Beak & Skiff Bet
Now comes the next chapter. Beak & Skiff, a five-generation, 1,000-acre apple orchard about 20 minutes south of Syracuse, has quietly built one of Upstate New York’s most respected outdoor concert venues with a 4,000-person capacity. Acts like Wilco, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, and Dark Star Orchestra have played its lawn stage, where fans spread out with clear sightlines, farm-fresh food, and craft cider from the on-site 1911 Tasting Room.
For Jazz Fest, the move offers something Clinton Square couldn’t: room to grow, dedicated infrastructure, and a setting that matches the festival’s ambitions for its milestone year.
The lineup reflects those ambitions. Opening night, July 9, brings the U.S. Air Force Band’s Airmen of Note — an 18-member big band created in 1950 to carry on Glenn Miller’s legacy — to the Syracuse University National Veterans Resource Center for an exclusive Upstate New York performance. Friday night at Beak & Skiff features Tower of Power alongside Grammy-nominated zydeco accordionist Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, plus Dumpstaphunk performing a full tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. Saturday’s headliner, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, brings New Orleans brass-band energy to the orchard. And in a festival first, UK seven-piece Hejira makes their North American debut with a 50th-anniversary celebration of Joni Mitchell’s jazz songbook.
Every performance is free. That’s been the deal since 1991, and it isn’t changing.
A New Team for a New Era
Perhaps the most significant shift this year isn’t the venue — it’s the people running the show. Malfitano, now 80 years old and in his 55th year working in music, has stepped back from day-to-day management to focus on the artistic programming he’s always loved.
“It’s really about entrusting my team with the responsibility of carrying on,” Malfitano told the Daily Orange in March. “And that’s a huge weight lifted.”
That team includes operations director Stacey Waterman, who grew up on the Onondaga Nation and has more than 30 years of experience staging live events through her company, DMR Booking. Sponsorship director Carrie Wojtaszek, owner of Moment Maker Agency, brings nearly two decades of brand partnership experience from her time as chief operating officer of Galaxy Media. Marketing director Marissa Greenlar, former chief content officer at Galaxy Media, has worked with 13 local radio stations and regional events including Taste of Syracuse and Lights on the Lake.
Waterman described Malfitano’s approach as “an artist-first mentality which does not exist in today’s modern music world.” She added that he “has reverence for the artist” — a quality the new leadership team intends to preserve.
What’s at Stake
Jazz Fest isn’t just a concert series. Onondaga County’s arts and culture sector generates $148 million in annual economic activity, supports 5,906 jobs, and delivers $21 million in local and state government revenue, according to a 2018 economic impact study by CNY Arts and Le Moyne College. Jazz Fest is one of the sector’s flagship events, drawing visitors from across the Northeast who fill hotel rooms, eat at local restaurants, and discover a city most of them hadn’t thought about since the last lake-effect snow headline.
“They’re not just going to carry Jazz Fest forward,” Malfitano said of his new leadership team. “They’re going to take it to the next level.”
If 40 years of packed crowds, legendary performers, and zero-dollar admission is any guide, he’s probably right.
Syracuse International Jazz Fest runs July 9–12, 2026. Opening night at the SU National Veterans Resource Center; Friday through Sunday at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, 2708 Lords Hill Road, LaFayette. All performances are free. Full lineup and details at syracusejazzfest.com.
Featured image: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, who headline the 40th Syracuse Jazz Fest on Saturday, July 11. Photo: Takahiro Kyono / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
