Talk about serendipity! Syracuse Peace Council organizer Andy Mager and Syracuse Jazz Fest Artistic Director Frank Malfitano met this spring to arrange for SPC to staff an informational table at the 28th annual festival this weekend, at Onondaga Community College.
“The next thing you know,” Malfitano said. “We’re conceptualizing a full-blown crafts area at jazz fest.”
Mager and SPC warmly welcomed the idea.
“[We’ll] offer a diverse range of quality crafts including pottery, jewelry, clothing, fabric dolls and quilted items,” Mager said. The Peace Council has 40 years of experience organizing CNY’s premiere multi-cultural crafts fair, Plowshares, every December.
SummerCrafts will be presented adjacent to the festival’s food court from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday June 25; from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 26; and from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 27. If festival-goers respond positively this year to SummerCrafts, Malfitano said, it’ll likely become a regular festival feature.
Because Woodstock icon Richie Havens and revolutionary vocalist Gil Scott-Heron perform on the Lou Everding Main Stage at 6:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday June 26, the SPC has dubbed Saturday “Peace Night.”
Cool!
And Price Chopper Fireworks will follow Saturday’s 9:30 p.m. headline set by San Francisco hipster Boz Scaggs.
Hot!
Godfather of Rap gets the blues
Gil Scott-Heron was born on April 1, 1949, but he’s no joke!
In the 1970s he burst onto the Manhattan scene as a bold spoken-word performer and vocalist. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrics making pointed commentary on social and political issues.
Scott-Heron’s recorded work is often associated with black militant activism and he has received critical acclaim for his most well-known composition, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
He’ll perform at 8 p.m. Saturday,June 26, at the 2010 Syracuse Jazz Fest at OCC. Scott-Heron could well deliver one of the most compelling sets ever heard in the festival’s 28-year history.
Scott-Heron’s newest disc, I’m New Here, released on Feb. 8, is his 13th studio album and is his first album of original material in 16 years. Primarily a blues and spoken-word album, I’m New Here has spawned a single, “Me and the Devil,” an adaptation of Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil Blues.” The Guardian newspaper’s Jude Rogers called I’m New Here one of the next decade’s best records.
In November 2009 the BBC’s Newsnight interviewed Gil Scott Heron. The BBC titled the program “The Legendary Godfather of Rap Returns.”
Natalie Cole sings Sunday
Fusion pioneer Jeff Lorber — backed by a band including trumpeter Randy Brecker — will headline the first night of the 2010 jazz fest, at 9:30 p.m. Friday June 25.
Scaggs tops Saturday’s bill, and well-bred vocalist Natalie Cole provides the fest’s finale at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 27.
The nine-time Grammy Award-winner continues to tour in support of her 21st studio album, Still Unforgettable. The disc won two Grammys and earned Cole a NAACP Award for Best Jazz Artist.
Still Unforgettable, which Cole produced herself, showcases her supple voice on 14 standards. Just as she partnered with her late father, the legendary Nat “King” Cole, for a posthumous duet on her 1991 masterpiece, Unforgettable With Love, this time they’re reunited on “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.”
“If there was going to be another ‘duet’ with dad, I felt it should be something more whimsical, fun and light,” Cole said. “At the same time, I was looking for a song that would also be familiar to a certain type of audience.”
Hey Natalie! WE’RE that “certain type audience,” for “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.”
Please sing it for us Sunday.
Thanks, doll!
Still free after all these years!
Admission is free to the Syracuse Jazz Fest at OCC. Enter either via Route 175 or Route 173. Parking costs $5 per vehicle.
Besides its 12 main-stage acts, the jazz fest also presents performances by 14 of CNY’s top student groups on the Entergy Scholastic Stage, including the Henninger High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Michelin Keleher (2:30 p.m. Friday), the City of Syracuse Dept. of Parks & Recreation Stan Colella All-Star Band conducted by Joe Carello (3:30 p.m. Friday), the OCC Jazz Band led by Steve Frank (7:30 p.m. Friday) and the Corcoran High School Jazz Ensemble directed by Leigh Scheuerman (1:30 p.m. Saturday).
Former Baldwinsville trombonist Jay Ashby will conduct a brass clinic at 4 p.m. Saturday in Room 153 of OCC’s Whitney Applied Technology Center.
All events, including clinics and jam sessions, are open to the public. For information, visit syracusejazzfest.com.
Syracuse Jazz Fest FAQs
Q: Can fans bring coolers into Syracuse Jazz Fest this year?
A: No. Coolers will not be allowed on campus at jazz fest this June. Too many abuses in the past have made control of alcoholic beverages impossible, and things have gotten out of hand and become potentially unsafe. And unfortunately, too many folks have also violated the festival’s no-glass, no-bottle rule. Since it’s uncontrollable and because people have failed to observe the rule for the safety of children and others, the festival has no choice but to prohibit coolers, a policy that will be strictly enforced in 2010 and beyond.
Q. Is there any seating provided?
A: Only in the handicap-accessible seating area for those patrons accompanying festival goers who have special needs. Everyone should bring their own lawn chairs or blankets.
Q: What is the jazz fest seating policy?
A: It’s open seating. First-come, first-seated, but don’t forget your own lawn chair.
Q: How early and how far in advance should I get there to see Natalie Cole, Boz Scaggs and Jeff Lorber?
A: If past festivals are any indication, it’s a good idea to arrive a few hours early and well before the scheduled headliners to ensure good seating and to avoid traffic back-ups. The acts and artists that precede the headliners are well worth the effort.
Q: What time do the gates open on Friday and Saturday?
A: Gates open at 1 p.m. each day. Master classes with national artists are scheduled at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. daily in the Whitney Applied Tech Center, and the food court also opens at 1 p.m. Music begins on the festival’s stages at 4 p.m. Headliners go on at 9:30 p.m.
Q: Is there any bus service to and from the festival?
A: Yes, there is CENTRO bus service and a regular service from downtown Syracuse. For a complete listing of running times, call 442-3400, or visit centro.org.
ENTERGY Education Programs at Syracuse Jazz Fest
Clinics, Master Classes, Workshops & Meet The Artists Sessions:
All sessions are free of charge and open to the public, and will be presented on campus, during Jazz Fest, at Onondaga Community College, in the College’s Whitney Applied Technology Center.
Friday, June 25
2 – 3 p.m. – Jeff Lorber, Piano, Eric Marienthal, Saxophone
(Master Class)
Room 153 (TV Studio)
4 – 5 p.m. – Randy Brecker, Trumpet
(Clinic)
Room 102/103
5 – 6 p.m. – Richard Bona, Bass
(Master Class)
Room 153 (TV Studio)
Saturday, June 26, 2010
1 – 2 p.m. – Kimberly Jordan, Piano
(Master Class)
Room 153 (TV Studio)
3 – 4 p.m. – Chris Toph-E Parker, Drums
(Master Class)
Room 102/103
4 – 5 p.m. — Jay Ashby, Trombone
(Master Class)
Room 153 (TV Studio)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
2 – 3 p.m. – Michael Kaeshammer. Vocals, Piano
(Master Class)
Room 153 (TV Studio)
3 – 4 p.m. – Clifford Carter, Keyboards
(Clinic)
Room 102/103
