Posted at: 06/14/2009 11:20 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 06/15/2009 1:36 AM
By: Deanna King

Jazz fills the air and people fill the seats

Attendance is up at this year's Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival.

Organizers say the club pass is nearly sold out. The club pass will get you into 150 shows.

Ticket sales for headliners are also up. People are traveling from around the world to see the shows. Plus, more artists are traveling across the pond to play here.

This year there are more than 800 artists from 18 different countries. The "Neil Cowley Trio" is just one of the groups are playing in the "Made In The UK Series". Members say they were surprised to see the size of the crowds in Rochester.

"It's been amazing! We sort of couldn't wrap our head around what it's doing here, but now we get it," said Neil Cowley.

Festival co-producer, Mark Iacona, says the weather has helped ticket sales and they've kept costs down. However, people are also buying tickets because of the variety of acts hitting the stage.

"We always say it's not who you know, it's who you dont know," said Iacona. "We're educating people on artists outside of our country."

The festival, in its 8th year, is the fastest growing jazz festival in the U.S.

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