North Carolina Central University and Art of Cool Partner to Launch Jazz Festival

Art of Cool and North Carolina Central University’sjazz studies program are partnering in April 2014 to bring a world-class jazz festival to downtown Durham. The jazz presentations scheduled for the 24th Annual NCCU Jazz Festival will be presented during April 25-26, 2014 as part of the Art of Cool Music Festival. This is a departure from the last few years of the NCCU festival which is usually held solely on the campus of NCCU at B.N. Duke Auditorium.

This community-building partnership will raise awareness of the NCCU jazz studies program during the festival as student and faculty big bands and combos will perform at various festival venues as well as the headliners scheduled for the NCCU jazz festival will now be added to the AOC festival lineup.

Under the leadership of Dr. Ira Wiggins, NCCU initiated the NCCU Jazz Festival in 1990 to expose the campus and the Durham community to America’s first indigenous art form, jazz. This mission is now extended beyond the campus as the partnership is formed.

"The North Carolina Central University Jazz Studies Program is delighted to partner with the Art of The Cool Project as a part of the 1st Annual Art of The Cool Jazz Festival in conjunction with the 24th Annual NCCU Jazz Festival," says Dr. Ira Wiggins, Associate Professor, Director of Jazz Studies. Currently, AOC is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds for the 2014 festival.

The goal of the Kickstarter campaign is to raise at least $25,000 at our weekly events through August 5th. Kickstarter perk levels range from $5 as the minimum with a free music download to $1000 for a VIP experience and box seats at The Carolina Theatre during the 2014 festival. The 2014 Art of Cool Festival is sponsored by American Tobacco.

Dedicated to increasing the visibility of the local vibrant, varied and surprisingly under-appreciated jazz and live music scene, Art of Cool is a unique collaboration between the jazz and art communities to bring both creative mediums to supporters in an intimate concert setting. The live jazz performances showcase and stimulate the forward-focused creative thought that is occurring on the local jazz scene. AOC has additional goals of solidifying the Triangle as a metropolitan area with a world-class defined jazz culture by bringing a Jazz Festival to Durham, as well as recognizing the need to keep jazz as part of America’s fabric by cultivating the genre in future generations. With its second year in existence, expect many exciting things to come from Art of Cool.

Art of Cool is a creative philanthropic project spearheaded by Cicely Mitchell and trumpeter and educator, Albert Strong IV of Al Strong Music Productions.

Learn more about great events in Durham with the Durham Event Calendar.