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Cincinnati, Ohio, might have seemed like an unlikely choice to host the nation's largest annual R&B concert, but thanks to local promoter Dino Santangelo, the Ohio Valley Jazz Festival would become the "Granddaddy of Them All." The first festival was held in 1962 at the Carthage Fairgrounds, but the event would continue to grow--moving to Crosley Field in 1964 and then Riverfront Stadium in 1971--to become the nation's biggest two-day stadium concert. The Ohio Valley Jazz Festival would eventually feature the most popular R&B artists of the day and draw audiences from as far as 500 miles away. The festival pioneered stadium concert production, generated millions for the regional economy, and eased the Greater Cincinnati community's difficult cultural transition throughout the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.
About the author
A graduate of Denison University and the Ohio Northern College of Law, Scott M. Santangelo is the son of festival founder Dino Santangelo. He and his family reside in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. In 2016, he celebrated his 10th anniversary with the Cincinnati Arts Association as director of operations of Cincinnati's historic Music Hall. The photographs in Images of Modern America: The Ohio Valley Jazz Festival were largely taken from the archives of the Ohio Valley Jazz Festival and represent the first published collection of festival photographs from this source.
