Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.196 | feat. Frank Malfitano Syracuse Jazz Fest

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

Frank Malfitano Previews the 40th Syracuse International Jazz Fest (July 9–12) Host Matt Masur interviews Frank Malfitano, founder and longtime producer of the Syracuse International Jazz Fest, who describes the festival as a free, community-supported labor of love rather than a money-making venture. Malfitano highlights the event’s inclusive “big tent” audience and family-friendly atmosphere, and outlines the 40th anniversary schedule: July 9 at Syracuse University’s National Veterans Resource Center featuring the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note big band; July 10–11 at Beacon Skiff Apple Orchards in Lafayette with acts including Hijira (Joni Mitchell’s jazz), Dumpstaphunk paying tribute to Sly & the Family Stone, Tower of Power, Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Gunhild Carling, and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; and July 12 at SU with a free picnic lunch. Details are at syracusejazzfest.com. 00:00 Jazz Joke Cold Open 00:16 Meet Frank Malfitano 01:10 What Is Jazz Fest 02:16 Festival Vibe And Audience 03:23 Opening Night At NVRC 05:55 Beacon Skiff Venue Move 06:55 Friday Night Lineup Highlights 08:10 How They Book Big Acts 09:37 Food And Visiting Syracuse 12:24 Saturday Night Louisiana Party 14:06 Sponsors And Community Legacy 15:21 Dates Website And Farewell

Somebody said, why did you get into jazz? I said, I hate crowds. And I told someone the formula for making a million dollars in jazz is to start with two. Hey, folks, Matt Meager from Clickstream Studios. Welcome to another edition of Good News, York. I am very excited to talk to a gentleman whose name and work I've seen around town for many years. It's the first time I'm getting the opportunity to have a conversation with him. I'm very excited.

Sir, go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us what you're all about. Bond, James Bond, Your Majesty's Secret Service. But my friends call me 007. I'm Frank Malfitano and I'm a native Syracusan and a graduate of Syracuse University and Anadoga Community College and Eastwood High School. I've been here a good portion of my life. And I created the Syracuse International Jazz Fest some 44 years ago, and I'm still producing it.

It's coming up. Wow. What is Jazz Fest? Jazz Fest is a music festival that features, you know, I'm not a promoter. I mean, the difference between a promoter and a presenter is a promoter makes money. Somebody said, somebody said, why did you get into jazz? I said, I hate crowds. and and I and I told someone the formula for making a million dollars in jazz is to start with two

so this is not a moneymaker it's really a passion project a labor of love something I love I was a student musician in high school and played in concert band all city all county all state and I always loved the music and being around the music and it was my life and it's always been my life and that kind of just led to me doing this. It was a circuitous route, but I somehow managed to get here and decided that a music festival in my hometown was something I wanted to do. That's awesome. That's awesome. What can people expect at this festival? Fun.

It's really a fun event. it's the vibe is like unlike anything I've ever seen and the audience is unlike anything I've ever seen. You know you tend to go to a show say at the amphitheater or something

and it's usually classic rock or country and you'll see that crowd. Sure. If you go to funk jams, funk fest out at the fairgrounds, you'll see another type of audience. At Jazz Fest, you'll see.

you see everybody in town. Wow. It's really a big tent, really diverse. I don't know how else to describe it. Everybody gets along and it's wonderful and it's fun and the music is great and you can bring your children

and they can see some of the greatest artists in the world and I think that's important. I mean, that's how I started out seeing the best. That's incredible. Talk about that a little bit more. What's the lineup there? year? Well, the opening night, we are doing something new. We're going to the Veterans, National Veterans Resource Center at Syracuse University, and we're presenting a 22-piece big band.

Yes, one of the military jazz big bands, in my estimation, the big band, okay? It's the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note. It's what became the Glenn Miller band after World War II. Really? Yeah. And that's free at the National Veterans Center. Is that the new building there on the corner on the S.U campus? Yes. It's on the corner of Waverly and South Krause. And it goes all the way to Marshall Street. I mean, it's just a glass and coal.

I'm guessing you're going to be in the big auditorium space in that building. We are. I understand that was originally built for political debates with the idea they'd be able to host crowds and that sort of thing. It was my understanding. I don't know how much truth there is to that. Well, I know they brought someone in from the current administration, and it seems like it's set up like a lecture hall for panelists. But it's a beautiful space. I can imagine.

I think it's the most beautiful space in town. Yeah, I think it's the first time there's ever been music in there. That's great. Yeah. You know the space. It is gorgeous. And I'm glad you described it because people don't know they've never been there. They missed out on their launch because they opened during COVID.

Right. So we're kind of the first big music event there. And I'm excited. It's a great way to open up. We were there. Part of the Micron groundbreaking event, they had a second half of the day was there. And we were there and covered it. And that was the first time I've been in that space.

But yeah, incredible space. Isn't it beautiful? It's going to be really neat. We're going to do that on Thursday, July 9th. And anybody that wants to know more about this can go online to Syracusejazzfest.com or just watch this show. We'll tell you all about it. That's it.

Now, so you mentioned we were talking about the Veterans Center there, but that's not the only spot that you can see some jazz, right? No, not on Jazz Fest weekend. You can kind of see it all around the place. But, I mean, this is the nation's 250th anniversary. Yeah. In addition to being Jazz Fest, 40th anniversary, but that pales by comparison.

And I think, you know, on July 9th, we're five days removed from Independence Day, our national holiday. And to get a band of this caliber five days removed from the 4th of July is pretty exciting for us. Yeah. That's going to be really neat. Then we move up to Beacon Skiff Apple Orchards, where they grow apples and weed.

Yep. And things of that nature. And they've been a proven concert venue. They're in Lafayette, New York, about 10 miles south of the city. They've been a proven concert venue for the last 10 years doing single night, single event concerts. They just did Wilco, and they've got Lake Street dive coming up. Yeah, yeah, no, it's a great site and it's beautiful and the views are beautiful. And so we're going to be up there on Friday and Saturday night.

Oh, wow. That is going to be great. I love that place. Oh, it's a special venue for people who haven't been. Yeah. There's plenty of free parking, plenty of space, beautiful views, great food, great hospitality. I mean, it's a great site. It really is.

And we'll have our big screens there. Oh, wow. Our big LED screens. I think it's the first time that's ever happened. and this is the first time they've ever hosted a festival. That's incredible. A multi-night festival. This is going to be great.

So Friday night we have, who do we have? We have a great group coming over from England performing the music of Joni Mitchell, her jazz. Wow. Yeah, Jira. They're really a beautiful seven-piece ensemble from London. I'm very excited about them coming over. Then we have another great group from New Orleans, the Sons of the Neville brothers, Ian and Ivan Neville, who are Art and Aaron Neville's son.

sons. They're carrying on the NOLA tradition and they're going to be doing, with their band dump stuff funk, they're going to be paying tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. Wow. Who left us last year. So they're not tribute bands per se. These are bands in their own right who have selected these particular projects and programs for the occasion. So we're really excited about that. Adjira is coming across the pond for the first time ever. Wow. So they're making their North American Festival debut with us. Wow. And Dumstaffunk is coming in from California. It's an isolated date, so they're flying in just for this date. That's incredible. Yeah, and then we end the evening with Tower of Power from Oakland. It's their 58th year touring. Wow. Yeah. That's incredible.

How do you land such kind of top-notch acts like this? I think that's a great question. We've been at it a long time. I worked in New York. I worked in Washington, D.C. I worked in Detroit for many years in the music business. And I also worked on projects in New Orleans, Los Angeles, Chicago. So I got to meet a lot of artists. And they became friends.

And I met their agents and their managers. And, you know, we've put on a really good festival where the fans are really appreciated and the artists are treated very, very well. I mean, we really roll out the red carpet to get them here. We give them a great experience and they want to come back and the word of mouth and the industry is very good about our festival. Sure. That's the power of having a festival for 40 years, right? You're able to build that reputation and I'm sure that is incredibly powerful when it comes to lining up those folks. I think we've been very lucky. We've been very blessed. I mean, I love the music and I think that the artists

sense that when they meet us. Sure. And our fans love them and the reception they get is just incredible. So there's a family community sense about this festival and that really makes it

artist friendly. So I got to ask you Frank because I know like you said you clearly you're taking good care of these artists, these folks are coming to America for the first time. You're no doubt going to feed them some local food. What are you going to feed these folks from Syracuse? Well, this year, you know, because it's a new venue, they do food and beverages on site at Beacon Skiff.

So they'll be doing all the catering. Oh, that's incredible. I'm not really sure what the university is doing for opening night. I know for the closing Sunday on campus at Hendricks Chapel, we're doing a free picnic lunch outside on the quad. And I'm not sure who's catering that. So shame on me for not knowing about our wonderful food. stuff at this year's festival. Normally, for the last several years, we've had food trucks, and we knew exactly who those

were. This year, it's a different setup. But I assure you the food will be great. What has these folks come to town, and, you know, they ask you, hey, Frank, what should we see around Syracuse while we're here? What are you going to point them at? Well, you know, the hotel where everyone is staying is in, our country. Armory Square. Okay. So, I mean, that's a number one destination, you know, Franklin Square,

Armory Square. There's a lot to see downtown and a lot to do downtown. So after the, you know, they'll get in early. They'll stay a few nights. They may stay a little bit afterwards. And certainly when they go back to the hotel, they'll be bopping around town to see what's going on. And I would encourage them to check out the local music scene and the local bar scene. I think we have a lot of great pubs and bars in downtown Syracuse. And so the local flavor mostly is where we'll be staring them. That's great. Yeah.

That's great. I love that being an ambassador to folks in sharing all the great things that our area has to offer. Like a jazz festival that you can go see at Beacon Skiff and on the S.U. campus. It's just so many fun things to do, honestly, around Central New York that a lot of people don't even realize, you know, once in a while I hear somebody. there's nothing to do here.

Like, you just are buried under a rock, you must be. And you're right to say that to them because, you know, people love to complain. Sure. I mean, come on, that's part of human nature, I think. It's become that. This is really joyful. This is good news, York. This is really good news.

I mean, we have a world-class music festival that is free. Parking is free. Every performance is free. All you have to do is show up. And you get a great show. You know, 90% of show business is showing up and putting on a great show. I mean, that's what we're about. Saturday night at Beacon Skiff, also at Beacon Skiff, we've got an all-Louisiana program.

We start out with Nathan Williams and the Zidico Chachas from Lafayette, Louisiana. And this is their 40th anniversary as well. So there's some real synergy there. And we've worked with Nathan before they're great. People will be dancing from the first note, I assure you. And they're followed by a lady named Gunnhild Karling, who's really an amazing story in and of herself. She's been on stage since she was three years old. She's from Sweden.

She's Sweden's queen of swing. She plays 11 instruments, including bagpipe. She plays three trumpets at once. She tap dances and she juggles. Wow. I mean, she's incredible. Wow. She's one of the greatest entertainers I've ever seen.

Certainly the greatest entertainer in all of jazz. And the second great entertainer in all of jazz follows her on the main stage. And that's trombone Shorty in Orleans Avenue, who's played everywhere. The White House, the nation's Fourth of July celebration at the Super Bowl. He's recorded with everybody. I mean, really a phenomenon. And he's been on stage since he was four. Wow.

Had his own band at five and was touring at six. Wow. That's exciting. It's absolutely incredible. And it's free. And it's free. But you know what? Free doesn't always mean it's great.

Oh, no, I understand that. But I'm just amazed this incredible lineup that, you know, come and grab yourself some incredible apples and enjoy some great music. What a great time. Our sponsors make that possible. They underwrite all of this, the county, the state of New York. It's so incredible. We get tremendous support from them, Syracuse University. university, folks like National Grid, other corporate sponsors around town, Micron, Amazon.

Wow. They make it free. And, you know, I think that brings me to my, maybe my last point. I don't know. I think what makes this festival special is that it was a festival produced by the community, raised by the community and nurtured by the community. It's a collective achievement. it. You don't get to 40 years. And on that note, we just entered a very exclusive club, festivals that have reached 40 around the world. And all of them are in major markets much larger than ours.

Sure. So for us to be able to do that and punch above our weight, you know, we're like the little engine that could. We're not supposed to, you know, a market this size isn't supposed to win national championships. But when we do, it feels pretty good. Yeah. So all I can tell you is this is like a final four and this is like a national championship weekend. It's really special. That's incredible. That's incredible.

Frank, thank you so much for coming in and sharing this with us. I know we're going to go out and get some fantastic photos of the event as well to share with folks. But one more time, let's just give the basic details, the dates, the times, and the website where they can get all the details. Sure. It's the 40th anniversary Syracuse International Jazz Fest. It's taking place July 9 through 12 on the campus of Syracuse University on the 9th and the 12th. And on the 10th and 11th, Friday and Saturday, we'll be at Beacon Skiff Apple Hill Concert Venue at Beacon Skiff Apple Orchards in Lafayette, New York.

Our website is www.000-W.orgiasfest dot com and all the information you need including performance times how to get there what to bring what not to bring sure yeah it's all there that's great that's great frank thank you so much for for sharing the story with us here and uh anytime that we've got things going on next year any other events you got going on please come back to good news york and we'd love to talk about well thanks for having me and thanks for thinking we're good news and uh a good news event that's a good news event and what you're doing is incredibly important to let people know about what's taking place in the area and what's good about our area because there's a lot great about our area.

And I think, you know, my underlying philosophy for the last 44 years is to produce something great because Syracuse is great and Syracuse deserves great. And that goes for all of Central New York. So we're happy to be here, happy to be on the landscape, and we appreciate the opportunity to come on and talk to. to your viewers. All right. Well, thank you so much, Frank.

It's been awesome. Thank you, man. And that's it for this edition of Good News, York. We'll see you next time.