A SAD DAY FOR AREA TRADITIONAL JAZZ FANS

A touch of the cultural panorama of Lakeland and Polk County has apparantly been lost...for now, at least.

The Child of the Sun Jazz Festival is the victim of cost cutting measures being taken by it's host and primary financial donor for nearly two decades, Florida Southern College. The festival, which kept it's focus on traditional jazz sounds while similar events began mixing in more pop and so-called "smooth jazz" influences, was the brainchild of FSC music instructor Larry Burke with a lot of help from the late cornetist and longtime Lakeland resident Nat Adderley.

Adderley's global fame as one of the premier musicians of the genre helped to attract other well known players to Lakeland each spring for what has grown into a weekend long event.

It's always disappointing for a community to lose a piece of it's cultural life, and I would certainly think that there are enough businesses throughout Lakeland and Polk County that would be willing to be associated with an event such as Child of the Sun. Hopefully, it won't take long for a local company or group of companies who want to keep events such as this part of the area variety to step up and provide the necessary funding to keep this event going.