About the Great Lakes Jazz Festival:
The goal of our community festival is to provide an open air, family-friendly event for visitors to rediscover the beauty of Ottawa Parks historic amphitheater, remember the rich heritage of jazz in Toledo and celebrate live performances by local, regional, national and international jazz musicians. 

Organized by the Great Lakes Jazz Society and hosted by the H-Factor Jazz Show:
Our mission is to promote and preserve jazz through music education, live and recorded performances. We offer free and low-cost jazz entertainment to the Toledo area, year-round. After over 10 years of organizing live jazz events and community jazz festivals, the H-Factor Jazz Enthusiast Club has recently become a 501c3 non-profit organization. We changed our name to the Great Lakes Jazz Society.  

Along with our scholarship that provides music lessons and instruments to Toledo-area children, we are the organizers of Jazz on the Terrace (Sylvania, OH) and two Toledo jazz festivals: 1) Great Lakes Jazz Festival and; 2) Glass City JazzFest. Our president, Hugh Ross, is also the host the H-Factor Jazz Show, a commercial-free national 24/7 online jazz radio station.

The H-Factor Jazz Enthusiast Club was founded by Hugh Ross, Jr., former host of the H-Factor Jazz Show, on the University of Toledos’ student radio station, 88.3fm. Toledo-area jazz lovers would call, during his show, and request songs, reminisce about Toledo’s rich jazz history, and talk to him about the need to have live jazz return to Toledo. As a result, Hugh started hosting weekly jazz events throughout the community in local restaurants and clubs. The H-Factor “Jazz In The Park” Series, at Ottawa Park Amphitheater started small and grew into the Great Lakes Jazz Festival. Along the way, jazz lovers joined in to help raise funds, plan and promote – forming the H-Factor Jazz Enthusiast Club.

Beginning at the University of Toledo’s student radio station, the H-Factor Jazz Show is now online 24/7 across the United States, with free apps available for both Androids and Apple devices.

Starting from humble beginnings, the Great Lakes Jazz Festival is growing in popularity and has established itself as a popular community festival.