Jazz Aspen Snowmass is a five day festival featuring an eclectic mix of artists in an unbelievable outdoor mountain setting. Three stages on-site plus JAS After Dark performances in local clubs & restaurants, offer an array of music of all styles.
Founded in 1991, Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The mission of JAS is to present and preserve Jazz, American and popular music through world-class festivals, performances and education programs.
The original three day festival has evolved into an internationally recognized summer long series of both free and paid performances, and, diverse education programs reaching gifted students, dedicated teachers and young audiences. JAS inaugurates its second decade of existence with a new winter series of concerts and in-school residency programs.
The original June 1991 festival was inspired by its prestigious sister festival in Marciac (southwest) France, a charming village of 1,000 in the rolling hills of Gascogne, near the Basque country. Through the years since its inception, the organization has added a four day Labor Day weekend event, a free summer concert series, an all-scholarship jazz residency program for gifted young artists and a new small venue winter jazz series.
The June Festival is set underneath a spectacular canopy tent with reserved seating for 3,000 in downtown Aspen at the Rio Grande Park. The Labor Day Festival is an open air, dance oriented extravaganza of popular, R&B, rock, funk, blues, world and soul music, taking place at Snowmass Town Park, with the spectacular Elk Mountain Range as a backdrop, catering to crowds in excess of 8,000 daily.
In March 2006 the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June and Labor Day Festivals lined up a new title sponsor in Calamos Investments, a money-management company based near Chicago.
JAS has been consistently recognized for its unique marriage of world-class music to an unparalleled natural and intimate setting, and its impeccable hospitality for artist and audiences alike. Its corporate and VIP tent programs have no peer in the international world of live music events with recognized star talent. The festival attracts a high end demographic of visitors from throughout the Rocky Mountain region and beyond.