At 80, Frank Malfitano is still hitting new notes with the Syracuse International Jazz Fest

LAFAYETTE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Frank Malfitano loves music. That’s far from all.

“I eat it, I sleep it, I drink it,” Malfitano, the founder of the Syracuse International Jazz Festival, said.

For the festival’s 40th anniversary, he’s drinking it at an apple orchard, 12 miles south of the city in the festival’s name. While Malfitano has nursed Jazz Fest through a half-dozen locations over the years, the switch to a new venue has some personal weight. At 80, he’s had some brushes with mortality that forced him to refocus and, with the help of a support staff, reinvent the festival…

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