Brooklyn Jazz was celebrated this April, known nationally as Jazz Appreciation Month, during the 11th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival from March 27th to April 30th. From Coney Island to Bushwick Brooklyn's contributions to the jazz world and its talents were showcased to nearly 5,000 tourists and New Yorkers with 37 events. Programming included panel discussions, youth activities, photography exhibit, Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame induction/awards ceremony and performances by local and international acclaimed artists. The next Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival is scheduled for April 1- 30, 2011. For information contact Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC) at 718.773.2252 or http://www.cbjcjazz.org/.
The Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival has grown from a nine day neighborhood event to a highly anticipated borough wide music series. This celebration of an art form created by African Americans is the longest continuous running festival dedicated to jazz in New York City. The festival's schedule included: Community Day Gala Concert (Co- Produced with International African Arts Festival) with Pharoah Sanders, poet Louis Reyes Rivera, Omi Yesa, and surprise guest Gary Bartz; some Latin flavor by Papo Vazquez; legendary Papa Lou Donaldson; nationally known acts Ahmed Abdullah, Bob Cunningham, Eric Frazier, Ed Stoute; Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers; Billy Bang and the great Houston Person to name some. Mix this in with local venue money makers Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch, Steve Cromity, Kim Clarke, Sabor, Rudi Wongozi, Jeff King, just to name a few, and its no wonder why tourist and neighborhood folks flocked to performances spaces such as Afroart Designs, Jazz966, Parlor Jazz, Rustik Tavern, Sistas' Place, Sugar Hill Restaurant, Two Steps Down and the Brooklyn night life scene in general this April. In fact nearly sixty (60) bands participated in festival 2010 and an economic impact was realized by community businesses also as tourist from Belgium, China, Finland, Japan, Ohio, Philadelphia and Rhode Island sampled local products. Or as phrased by Jazz Journalist Association President Howard Mandel, ". . . the roots of the borough's jazz, where action is concentrated during the 11th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival throughout the month of April, run from Flatbush up Fulton Avenue (Street) through the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Ocean Hill to Bushwick. This is the area that gave birth to Max Roach and Randy Weston some 80 years ago, . . . ."Videos