The 19th Queen City Jazz Festival will be held at Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo this weekend.

Event organizer George Scott says it all began in an effort to make jazz music more visible here in the city.

He says the first festival in 2003 was spontaneous, it wasn't officially announced and everyone played for free. Scott says that first festival had 1,500 to 2,000 people come out. 

Since then it's grown, getting big-name jazz artists to come to town. Scott says jazz is America's music — the genre was invented here. He says the festival honors Buffalo's jazz legacy.

"In the 30s, jazz was like the music of the entire country," said Scott "It was in movies. You heard it in commercials. You know, everything. And everybody wanted to play it. And that's why eventually what was Black music became the country's music, and for that matter, even the world. And Buffalo was considered one of the top places to go."

The Colored Musicians Club on Broadway was a popular spot for famous names like Duke Ellington, Count Baise and more.

This year the Queen City Jazz Festival is Saturday from 1-8 p.m. at Lafayette Square.

Scott says there will be five music acts playing during that time and there will also be vendors where you can grab things like hats and t-shirts.

For more information, click here.