First I think this event should be renamed the Arizona Soul Fest. There really isn't much Jazz going on which is a shame becuase I love me some jazz.
That being said I really did want to be at this festival and I really did want to go on Sunday especially. Angie Stone, my fave soul lady Miss India Arie, and Anthony Hamilton were all playing Sunday in that order. So I took a pass on seeing Jill Scott on Friday. You really can't beat the lineup. And considering that we found vacant seats near the front during these acts for our general admission priced tickets I would say it is definitely worth every penny. Seeing India Arie ALONE was worth the price of the tickets. She is so amazing, spiritual, beautiful, and talented.
I loved the atmosphere. The people were extremely friendly. We got the the festival pretty early and didn't want to be in the sun as there was no shade over the seating. So we found a shady spot outside of the event boundaries on the lawn of the resort with some fellow festival goers. They shared wine and snacks and amazing conversation with us. We bought drinks at the bar inside the resort and held up some other conversations about the music, order of the lineup, and the process. Seems some others had a hard time getting will call tickets. There was major issues with wifi/internet availability at the will call line. Most everyone I spoke liked/LOVED the lineup but agreed that it was less jazz and more neo-soul. The drinks were decently priced both inside the event and at the bar in the resort but most everyone agreed that the food was really overpriced. Beer selection could have used some work but they had kiltlifter which is ususally a satisfactory beer choice in a pinch and definitly more drinkable than bud light... blegh.
Anyways I really had a great time over all and of course made some new friends and spent some time with old ones. Performances were awesome and I will most definitely see them again.