A jazz festival with Chicago roots is setting up shop in an Orlando living room this Labor Day weekend. The 9th Annual Labor Day Jazz Festival lands at the Timucua Arts White House on Monday, September 7, starting at 3 p.m., with tickets priced at $50 and including a cookout, free beer, and a full day of live sets.
The festival is moving from Chicago to Orlando, after previous editions took place at storied rooms including the Jazz Showcase and Andy's Jazz Club, according to Orlando Weekly. The festival was launched in Chicago by pianist Jim Holman and his father. Holman also worked with the late jazz multi-instrumentalist Ira Sullivan, who died in 2020. Holman launched his professional recording career on Delmark Records after a personal recommendation from Sullivan.
Headlining the relocated event is tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, billed by the Orlando Weekly as a hard-bop revivalist and set to play two sets across the day. Alexander gained national prominence after placing second behind Joshua Redman in the 1991 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, according to AllMusic. He has since recorded more than 40 albums as a leader and appeared as a sideman on hundreds of jazz releases.
Chicago Meets Central Florida on the Bandstand
The festival's trio and quartet lineups blend Holman's Chicago roots with a bench of Florida jazz talent. Guitarist LaRue Nickelson, who has taught jazz guitar at the University of South Florida since 2000 and written more than 40 original compositions, per USF, joins bassist Alejandro Arenas on the bill. Arenas, born in Colombia, earned his master's in jazz performance from USF and co-founded the acclaimed Tampa Bay ensemble La Lucha in 2006, according to St. Petersburg College.
Also on the schedule are bassist Mark Neuenschwander, drummer Ian Goodman, and percussionist Johnbern Thomas. Neuenschwander has spent decades as a sought-after sideman, having performed with Chick Corea, Cab Calloway, Rosemary Clooney, and the Florida Orchestra. Thomas, a percussionist, is also on the bill.
A House Built for Sound
The venue itself is as much a part of the story as the lineup. Timucua's White House in Orlando's SoDo District is a residence and performance venue. According to the City of Orlando, the future plan for the SoDo District includes creating and preserving retail opportunities, walkable destinations, civic spaces and streetscape improvements. The City of Orlando's South Downtown Vision Plan says a SoDo mixed-use project will bring new retail and restaurants along with more than 300 multi-family apartments.
Glazer, who now serves as Timucua's founder and artistic director, is part of the venue's story. Timucua's history includes informal house concerts and the White House.
The property hosts public performances, and the foundation operates as a non-profit.
What to Expect on Labor Day
Attendees at the September 7 event can expect a lineup structured around trio and quartet configurations, with Alexander and Florida-based musicians on the bill. The $50 ticket bundles the music with a cookout, free beer, and what organizers describe as a long day of jazz, according to Orlando Weekly's preview of the event.
The relocated festival brings a Chicago institution to Timucua in the SoDo neighborhood.
