Bassist and activist Endea Owens brought an afternoon of music, food, and culture to Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on August 17 at her annual Community Cookout. The event, presented by the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance in partnership with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, featured free food provided by Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too, and a performance by Owens’ group, The Cookout. “It is a blessing to be alive and to share these experiences with you,” Owens told the crowd in the plaza. “It’s always for the people, but this one is especially for the community and you all. Thank you so much.”
Owens, who is well-known as a member of the house band for “Stephen Colbert’s Late Show” and performed at the Superbowl LV Halftime Show as part of H.E.R.’s group, has brought her signature blend of soulful jazz to New York stages since graduating Juilliard in 2018. She released her latest album, “Caught Up in This Illusion,” a collaboration with rapper Juicy J, on August 15.
Johnny Knollwood photos
In 2020, Owens started the Community Cookout, a nonprofit organization that aims to unite communities through food and music. “There was a short period in my life where I experienced homelessness as a teenager due to the recession,” Owens told the AmNews in a post-show interview. “A lot of our basic necessities were dependent on food pantries, clothing drives from churches, and events like this.”
The bassist and educator has hosted the cookout in Harlem for three years and fed more than 300 people on Sunday. Meals were prepared by Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too, a Harlem soul food restaurant started by former model turned caterer Norma Jean Darden. The menu featured selections like Moroccan salmon, jerk or fried chicken, and grilled vegetables, complete with red velvet or coconut cake for dessert. Attendees lined up for lunch before taking their seats in shady areas across the park to enjoy a performance by Owens and her band, which featured trombonist Jefferey Miller, Summer Camargo on trumpet, saxophonist Christopher McBride, Arcoiris Sandoval on keys, drummer Norman Edwards, and singer Charenee Wade.
A few excited concertgoers braved the hot sun to dance upfront as Owens and her band delivered two tight sets of standards that included Bill Withers’s “Lovely Day,” a rendition of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” sung by trombonist Miller, and an incredibly fast interpretation of “Cherokee,” which was played twice to accommodate one instrumental performance and one with words — both versions were under a minute long.
The chemistry between the audience and the players on stage, all fierce improvisers, was readily apparent, as the musicians tested the limits of classic tunes with smiles on their faces, celebrating jazz in the neighborhood it was born in, just blocks from where the iconic “A Great Day in Harlem” photo was taken by Art Kane in 1958 that featured 57 of the age’s most influential players.
“It’s a labor of love, but it is one of my greatest joys — greatest accomplishments — doing this,” Owens said to the AmNews. “We all enter this Earth the same, and we all leave this Earth the same. Love goes a long way.”