Jazzmobile, Inc. is based in New York City, and was founded in 1964 by Daphne Arnstein, an arts patron and founder of the Harlem Cultural Council and Dr. William "Billy" Taylor.
It is a multifaceted, outreach organization committed to bringing "America's Classical Music"—Jazz—to the largest possible audience by producing concerts, festivals and special events worldwide.
Since 1964, Jazzmobile has been presenting Free Outdoor Summer Mobile Concerts, bringing jazz musicians to the five boroughs of New York City, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Essex County, New Jersey, Westchester County, and several cities in upstate New York.
In the very beginning of Jazzmobile in the 1960s, John Coltrane, Jimmy Heath, Dizzy Gillespie, Horace Silver, Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, and other black players, played in the neighborhood festivals.
In 1990, Jazzmobile's Tribute Concert for founder Dr. Billy Taylor, part of the JVC Jazz Festival, that featured Nancy Wilson, Ahmad Jamal Trio and Terence Blanchard Quintet.