On August 17, everyone is invited to bassist and composer Endea Owens’s Community Cookout at Marcus Garvey Park (enter at East 122 Street & Madison Avenue). Free live jazz and free meals served from 3–4:45 p.m. or whenever food runs out; meat, fish, and vegetarian options will be available.
The mission of the cookout is to provide relief to individuals who might be food-insecure, in addition to encouraging community members from all walks of life to “break bread together.” Her concept blossomed during the COVID-19 pandemic that halted life in New York City. She assembled a band to play a community event in Harlem, while serving free meals to well over 100 people. The Community Cookout, as she began calling it, became a source of nourishing uplift in a difficult time and her music the rainbow in a frightening experience. “If you have the ability to do something, you should do it, so it wasn’t even a second thought to create the [Community] Cookout, to create something that would benefit everyone,” Owens said during an NPR/Jazz in America radio interview.
Some may know Owens as bassist for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” She originally started with Jon Batiste’s Stay Human house band and remained after his departure under the Late Show Band with bandleader Luis Cato. Owens often still found herself as the only woman in the band, but her musicianship has rendered her a first-call musician despite the traditional domination of men in the music world.
Her mentor, Marcus Belgrave, hired Owens for her first gig when she was an adolescent in the YouthVille Detroit music program, where she was first exposed to jazz. She credits Rodney Whitaker, her teacher at the Detroit School of Arts, with showing her how to play the bass correctly. Fellow Detroit native bassist Marion Hayden was also influential, recommending Owens for her very first tour at Spelman College. Owens released her debut album of her own compositions, “Feel Good Music,” in 2023.
St. Peter’s Church (619 Lexington Avenue), defined as the “Church of Jazz” since its 1965 Jazz Ministry (founded by Pastor John Gensel), has been producing a weekly jazz vespers series every Sunday at 5 p.m. This grand ritual, which has presented jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, continues its final two weeks of August with the trio of Roni Ben-Hur on guitar, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Jason Tiemann on August 18, and the last week of August 25 features the drummer Ronen Itzik.
St. Peter’s Church also offers a lunch-time series Wednesdays Jazz on the Plaza at 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. August 21 will feature Miki Yamanaka Quartet, the young Japanese pianist who is beginning to glow from her many bright performances at Smalls and Mezzrow. August 28 brings saxophonist Billy Harper Quintet—the native Texan, now an elder statesman, remains a force whose definitive sound immediately captures listeners’ attention. He served in the Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers boot camp during the late 1960s. He was a long-standing member of Max Roach’s quartet and was later featured with Randy Weston’s African Rhythms ensemble.
For more info, visit www.saintpeters.org/events.
Harlem’s New Amsterdam Musical Association (NAMA) is one of 30 selected as awardees from 350 applications across the United States, and will receive capital funding from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund 2024. This is a highly competitive program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and NAMA’s grant award is designated to help cover costs for renovations of its more than 100-year-old front façcade, windows, doors, and electrical upgrades. These much-needed conditions have been a problem for many years, dating back to John E. Johnson’s NAMA presidency, when fundraisers and hiring workers were always on the agenda.
“History is crucial to our nation’s understanding of where we’ve come from, who we are today, and how we envision our future,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. “These grants will support critical preservation efforts to revitalize and sustain tangible links to our African American historic places that we hope will inspire future generations.”
Current President Imani Scott credited to Johnson as her main supporter when she joined the organization. “John E. was a great inspiration to me, and his spirit keeps me moving forward,” Scott said. “The diligence of our members and the community are important to NAMA in preserving our historical, musical, and cultural legacy.”
On Mondays and Wednesdays, visit NAMA (107 West 130th Street) for live music and jam sessions. For times and schedule, visit www.namaharlem.org.
NEA Jazz Master drummer Roy Haynes has received dozens of awards, including three-time Grammy winner; first recipient of the Living National Treasures of Jazz Award presented by the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.; Martin Luther King, Jr. Music Achievement Award in his native home of Boston; Danish Jazzpar prize; and in 1996, knighted by the French government with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) continued Haynes’s string of awards with a proclamation from State Senator Leroy Connie in recognition of his achievements in music and his invaluable contribution to the borough of Queens. Unfortunately, Haynes was not available, but his daughter Leslie Haynes accepted on his behalf, thanking JCAL for recognizing her father in Queens, where he planted his roots and raised his family. He now lives on Long Island.
The idea to present Haynes with the award was the brainchild of JCAL’s resident music curator, percussionist Steve Kroon. The presentation was held during JCAL’s Queens Riddim & Jazz Festival that featured the fresh vocals of Samara Joy.
Haynes, a living legend, has performed for two presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson and Ronald Reagan, as well as the King and Queen of Thailand. His career includes his own groups, like the Hip Ensemble and later his eight-year run with Fountain of Youth that featured aspiring musicians David Wong, Marcus Strickland, Jaleel Shaw, and Martin Bejerano; and collaborations with Chick Corea and Pat Metheny—Haynes has played with everyone from Miles Davis to Sarah Vaughan (long- standing stint), Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Lester Young, Billie Holiday…on and on. When Max Roach parted from Charlie Parker, he had only three words: “Hire Roy Haynes.”
Haynes is an iconic jazz musician whose playing styles influenced swing, bebop, straight-ahead, and avant garde. His musical legacy swings on as his sons Craig and Graham, his grandson Marcus Gilmore, and so many generations he has mentored and influenced continue to add their own creative sound to the Haynes tradition.