FOR 14 years, the jazz acts at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah have been presented on two consecutive Saturdays at the end of July and the beginning of August. This year, they will be presented on three straight days, Aug. 1 to 3.
That coincides precisely with the schedule of the Litchfield Jazz Festival, in Goshen, Conn., setting up the first head-to-head three-day competition between two major events on the jazz calendar. Both festivals draw heavily from an upper-middle-class fan base and both are within driving distance of many of the same potential concertgoers.
Adding to the competitive atmosphere is the appearance of the composer and reed player Paquito D'Rivera at both festivals. Mr. D'Rivera has become associated with Caramoor in recent years as performer and composer-in-residence, and will again play this year at the festival in Katonah, though not on its jazz days. But he is also scheduled to debut a new composition on Litchfield's opening day.
“We try not to get too stressed about it," Paul Rosenblum, Caramoor's managing director, said of the competition.
Caramoor's scheduling change was intended to generate excitement by compressing the time frame for the shows, said Michael Barrett, the festival's chief executive officer. Jim Luce, Caramoor's producer of jazz, added that he hoped fans from outside the immediate vicinity would make a long weekend of the jazz schedule, staying in local bed-and-breakfasts.
That coincides precisely with the schedule of the Litchfield Jazz Festival, in Goshen, Conn., setting up the first head-to-head three-day competition between two major events on the jazz calendar. Both festivals draw heavily from an upper-middle-class fan base and both are within driving distance of many of the same potential concertgoers.
Adding to the competitive atmosphere is the appearance of the composer and reed player Paquito D'Rivera at both festivals. Mr. D'Rivera has become associated with Caramoor in recent years as performer and composer-in-residence, and will again play this year at the festival in Katonah, though not on its jazz days. But he is also scheduled to debut a new composition on Litchfield's opening day.
“We try not to get too stressed about it," Paul Rosenblum, Caramoor's managing director, said of the competition.
Caramoor's scheduling change was intended to generate excitement by compressing the time frame for the shows, said Michael Barrett, the festival's chief executive officer. Jim Luce, Caramoor's producer of jazz, added that he hoped fans from outside the immediate vicinity would make a long weekend of the jazz schedule, staying in local bed-and-breakfasts.
