Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Jazz in the park, then and now

Gone, but not for forgotten

If  it was a summer, between the years 1968 and 1976, and you were in New York City, you may have attended one of the many music concerts at Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park. The concerts were sponsored by the Schaefer Beer people, and it was only a dollar to get in. I was in my early twenties.

At my first Schaefer Beer concert I saw Herbie Mann, whose musical journey had allowed him to blend the sounds of many different cultures. That said, at this particular concert some guy tried to give Herbie a hard time. The guy was in the front row, right below the stage, and as Herbie played this guy actually stood up and also played the flute, right in Herbie's face! Well, the great musician stopped playing, looked down at the guy and said, "...I can't play if you're going to". Within seconds, the NYPD was escorting the guy from the park. All turned out well.

Still free

There are still free Jazz concerts around the planet. One of the really good ones, if you
haven't been,

  is the Atlanta Jazz Festival which is held annually in Piedmont Park. The festival, which received the 2009 Greener Festival Award is a 189 acre site, with green grass knolls, and is only about a mile from downtown.

I've been several times and seen cats like, Yusef Lateef  Sun Ra, Gary Bartz , and Ahmad Jamal. Too many greats to remember.

The 2013 Atlanta Jazz Festival will be held Memorial Day weekend, May 25 - 27, 2013. For more go to, www.atlantafestivals.com.




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