13
QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 30, 2019
Great music lined up for Jamaica jazz fest
BY JACOB KAYE
Jamaica Avenue is
set to come alive with
jazz and celebration at
the inaugural Jamaica
Downtown Jazz Festival
next month.
Hosted by the Jamaica
Center for Arts and
Learning, the festival aims
to get a new generation
hip to the rich history
of the legendary jazz
musicianship to come out of
the Queens neighborhood.
“The program allows
young artists opportunities
to connect to the local
community,” said Rio
Sakairi, artistic director
of the Jazz Gallery and
co-artistic director of the
festival.
“The festival will make
the music even more
accessible to audiences
in the neighborhood and I
believe these young artists
will enjoy bringing their
craft to new sets of ears,”
Sakairi said.
The festival will begin
on Friday, July 12, and jam
through Sunday, July 14.
It is set to feature some of
the biggest names in jazz
to come out of Jamaica.
Several movie screenings
and walking tours will
also be available as part of
the celebration.
While most of the
festival is free, several of
the events on the lineup
will require paid tickets.
Milford Graves,
a jazz drummer and
percussionist who’s spent
his entire life in Jamaica,
will headline the festival
and perform on the main
stage at 7 p.m. on Saturday,
July 13.
Many consider Graves
to be a pioneer of the
free jazz movement. His
avant-garde contributions
were colored by the Afro-
Cuban rhythms and Latin
percussion he brought into
the context of jazz through
his own percussion.
Graves performed with
Paul Bley and the New York
Art Quartet, featuring
John Tchicai, Roswell
Rudd and Reggie Workman
during the 1960s, his most
prolific era.
Just 10 minutes away
Milford Graves, the legendary jazz percussionist, will headline the Jamaica Downtown Jazz Festival on July 14, 2019. Photo via Wikimedia Commons
from Jamaica Avenue,
Graves still lives in
the Jamaica home his
grandparents used to live
in.
A screening of The Full
Mantis, a documentary
about Graves will kick
off the festival at 5 p.m.
on Friday, July 12. The
film will show inside the
Jamaica Center for Arts
and Learning.
Additionally, a new
documentary about
Aretha Franklin will also
be shown. The film, “The
Amazing Grace,” features
the artist recording her
1972 live album of the same
name.
Later in the festival,
participants will be able to
join the JazzWalk, a guided
tour about the Addisleigh
Park section of Jamaica,
considered by many to be
the “home of jazz.”
All concerts and events
will take place in venues
along Jamaica Avenue,
mostly between the
Jamaica Arts Center and
Jamaica Performing Arts
center. Ticketed events
will be sold separately.
See the full lineup
below.
Friday, July 12
5 p.m. – Screening of
The Full Mantis, Milford
Graves (JCAL, $10)
8 p.m. – Tribute
performance by Jason
Moran and Tyshawn Sorey
(JCAL, $20)
Saturday, July 13
10 a.m. – JazzWalk Tour,
pick up and drop off at
Jamaica Arts Center ($25)
Noon – Screening of The
Amazing Grace, Aretha
Franklin (JPAC, $10)
1 p.m. – Keith Jordan
(Queens Central Library)
2 p.m. – Camille
Thurman with the Darrell
Green Trio (JCAL Gallery)
2 p.m. – York College
Alumni Combo (Queens
Central Library)
3 p.m. – Napoleon
Revels-Bey (King Manor
Museum)
3 p.m. – Secret Mall
(JPAC Front Lawn)
3 p.m. – Giveton Gelin
(JCAL Theater)
4 p.m. – Simona
Premazzi (JCAL Gallery)
4 p.m. – Morgan Guerin
(King Manor Museum)
5 p.m. – Kendra Shank
(JPAC Front Lawn)
5 p.m. – Jonathan
Finlayson (JCAL Theater)
Main Stage Concert at
Jamaica Performing Arts
Center ($30)
7 p.m. – Milford Graves
8 p.m. – Don Byron
9 p.m. – Alchemy Sound
Project
Sunday, July 14
10 a.m. – JazzWalk
Tour, pick up and drop off
at Jamaica Arts Center
($25)
2 p.m. – Tomoko Omura
(JCAL Gallery)
3 p.m. – Chris Morrissey
(JCAL Theater)
4 p.m. – Jarawa Brian
Gray (JCAL Gallery)
5 p.m. – Flamenco
Latino (JCAL Theater)
6 p.m. – Roopa
Mahadevan (JCAL
Gallery)
7 p.m. – Pheeroan
akLaff (JCAL Theater)