The Chicken Bone Beach Jazz on the Beach Thursday Free Concert Series has only a few weeks left. On August 22, the series will feature drummer, composer, and big band leader Ulysses Owens, Jr. and local jazz artists with the John Lamkin Quintet; on August 29, saxophonist Melissa Aldana Quartet and local artist Dwain Davis & Friends; and closing the series out on September 5, trumpeter, composer, and 10-time Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval and local artist Cintron.
The action takes place at Kennedy Plaza (between Mississippi and Georgia Avenues on the Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J.), at 7:00 p.m.
If you’re wondering how the name Chicken Bone Beach came about, yes, there is a storied tale behind the name. It’s much too long for this short piece, but you can read “Chicken Bone Beach: A Pictorial of Atlantic City’s Missouri Avenue Beach” (Sunbury Press, 2017) by Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks.
For more information, visit chicken bone beach.org.
We can call alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, also known as “Bird,” a genius or innovator, but those words don’t come close to representing the colossal imprint he made on the world of American music, the generations of musicians he continues to influence, and anyone who comes within earshot of his depth-defying rapid chords and preposterous improvisations. It’s like someone saying “Okay, I see Art Tatum playing, but there must be another person.” People saw Parker playing and asked where he was hiding his other set of hands.
The U.S. Postal Service issued a 32-cent commemorative postage stamp in Parker’s honor in 1995; in his hometown of Kansas City, he is celebrated with a 10-foot-tall bronze head sculpted by Robert Graham. In the saxophonist’s adopted New York City home, there is an annual Charlie Parker Festival that has extended beyond its original two days. On August 23, the 2024 festival will feature bassist and composer Christian McBride Big Band, and the rising comet young trumpeter Wallace Roney, IV will blaze the Marcus Garvey Park stage (124th Street and 5th Avenue entrance), 7–9 p.m.
There is so much to say about the eight-time Grammy winner McBride and all the noted musicians with whom he has played, but two names will do. In 2007, he performed with two of America’s greatest innovators: NEA Jazz Masters Sonny Rollins and Roy Haynes. He leads five groups: Inside Straight; his 18-piece big band; A Christian McBride Situation, his experimental group; and New Jawn. Why so many groups? Easy: He’s from Philly and digs good music, James Brown funk, and the Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP). He loves the exploration of sounds and hearing the outcome. He enjoys playing it all!
He was named artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival, succeeding the festival’s founder and artistic director, George Wein; he curates and advises the annual James Moody Jazz Festival; and since he’s not busy enough, he hosts NPR’s radio show, ”Jazz Night in America.”
The brilliant young trumpeter Wallace Roney, IV, opening for McBride’s big band, is an imaginative voyager forging new paths for a future today. He is of course, a member of the genius Roney family, his late father Wallace Roney and mother Geri Allen, his uncle Antoine Roney and cousin drummer Kojo Roney, who both had the audience on the edge last week at Jazzmobile.
Marcus Garvey Park is the place again on August 24 for the all-day Charlie Parker Festival (3 p.m.–7 p.m.). The all-star lineup will include the uncompromising songstress Carmen Lundy, who can shout out a hard swing tune, or come sweet and sassy; pianist Helen Sung featuring saxophonist Chris Potter. Sung glows whether leading a small group or big band; Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few. Collier, a striking force out of Chicago like Parker gives his soul, spirit and intense improvisation; the young vocalist Tyreek McDole recently won the 2023 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition; and the DJ Kulturedchild aka Angelika Beener, whose love of music keeps her engrossed in a variety of musically oriented projects may have her at the DJ board, MC’ing, hosting writing or producing or the like, be ready for whatever she prepares it will be well worth it.
The following day, August 25, the CP Festival moves down to Manhattan’s lower East Side to Tompkins Square Park (East 10th Street and Avenue A). The lineup will include NEA Jazz Master drummer Louis Hayes, supported by the 24-year-old Cameroonian vocalist Ekep Nkwelle and pianist/vocalist Alexis Lombre. The bill also features SuperBlue, the genre-bending collaboration between vocalist Kurt Elling and guitarist Charlie Hunter, featuring the Brooklyn-based Huntertones Horns; and DJ KulturedChild, aka Angelika Beener, host of WBGO’s podcast Milestones.
Parker, who died in 1955 at age 34, lived near Tompkins Square Park at 151 Avenue B from 1950–54. That residential building between Ninth Street and 10th Street is landmarked.
For complete listings of Charlie Parker Festival events, check cityparksfoundation.org/charlieparker.
On August 28, NEA Jazz Master and Big Chief Donald Harrison returns to Jazzmobile at Grant’s Tomb (122nd Street and Riverside Drive), 7–8:30 p.m. The native of New Orleans, the Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group swings into Harlem on his Crescent wave with his unique interpretation of this music called jazz. The saxophonist, composer, and arranger expands parameters with his nouveau swing fermentation of assorted genres, from his native second-line to bebop to hardbop, soul, hip hop, salsa, reggae, and even smooth jazz. You haven’t heard this music played until you hear Harrison’s perspective.
Correction: The August 18 Jazz Notes column stated Roy Haynes had been leading his Fountain of Youth group for eight years. The correct number is 19 years. We apologize for this error.
This is such a powerful tribute to the rich legacy of Chicken Bone Beach and the enduring influence of artists like Charlie Parker and Donald Harrison. Events like this not only celebrate jazz but also preserve vital cultural history for future generations. On a related note, for anyone involved in organizing or promoting community festivals, streamlining logistics—like mailing materials or sending invites—can be crucial. I’ve found this tool especially helpful in managing postage efficiently. It’s a simple way to save time and keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.