JAM Magazine: August/September 1999 Issue: Scrapple From the Apple

by Russ Dantzler

Midsummer Nights Swing at Lincoln Center
Summer offerings of music are improving as fast as the economy and living conditions in Manhattan. There's a mostly-jazz Sunday afternoon performance series in Central Park at the Harlem Meer, Central Park Summer Stage's great world music, blues, dance and opera, and a number of festivals, including the stellar one-day Charlie Parker Festival each August, always on the Sunday nearest Bird's birthday. All of these are free.

"Midsummer Night Swing," now celebrating its tenth year at Lincoln Center, is nothing less than superb. Running a full month from late June to late July, it runs the gamut of danceable music. The setting is the picturesque center of the outdoor Lincoln Center Plaza. A large wooden dance floor and capable stage are set near the fountain for this joyous month. Poor folks such as myself hang out and listen, bobbing our heads. Dance enthusiasts spend $11 for a ticket that allows them dance instruction starting at 6:30 p.m., and entrance to the dance floor for the live show, often a double bill, from 8:15 to 11:00 p.m.

Jay McShann was guitarist and band leader Duke Robillard's special guest on July 1. It is always interesting to see the reunions Jay enjoys anywhere he goes. This night, it was the legendary producer of Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner and Benny Goodman recordings, George Avakian. He and I both anticipated Jay's arrival, as he explained that he hadn't seen Jay in nearly 40 years, and that he had wanted to produce recordings with him 60 years ago!

This swing series began with Dick Hyman and Vince Giordano, and is scheduled to end (as we go to press) with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band on July 24. Jacquet is the annual attendance record-breaker. In between are the Count Basie Band, Henry Butler and Marva Wright (on a New Orleans night), a killer rockabilly night, Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and so much more. Thousands attend, and no one stands still. I have never seen an evening where professional photographers aren't snapping snappy dancers.

Privileged people used to leave Manhattan to "summer" elsewhere. Thanks to the tremendous summer arts offerings, cultured cats seem to be coming into the city instead. Visitors seeking jazz in the city are welcome to contact me by emailing hotjazz@idt.net.

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		by Russ Dantzler Midsummer Nights Swing at Lincoln Center Summer offerings of music are improving as fast as the economy and living conditions in Manhattan. There's a mostly-jazz Sunday afternoon performance series in Central Park at the Harlem Meer, Central Park Summer Stage's great world music, blues, dance and opera, and a number of festivals, including the stellar one-day Charlie Parker Festival each August, always on the Sunday nearest Bird's birthday. All of these are free. "Midsummer Night Swing," now celebrating its tenth year at Lincoln Center, is nothing less than superb. Running a full month from late June to late July, it runs the gamut of danceable music. The setting is the picturesque center of the outdoor Lincoln Center Plaza. A large wooden dance floor and capable stage are set near the fountain for this joyous month. Poor folks such as myself hang out and listen, bobbing our heads. Dance enthusiasts spend $11 for a ticket that allows them dance instruction starting at 6:30 p.m., and entrance to the dance floor for the live show, often a double bill, from 8:15 to 11:00 p.m. Jay McShann was guitarist and band leader Duke Robillard's special guest on July 1. It is always interesting to see the reunions Jay enjoys anywhere he goes. This night, it was the legendary producer of Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner and Benny Goodman recordings, George Avakian. He and I both anticipated Jay's arrival, as he explained that he hadn't seen Jay in nearly 40 years, and that he had wanted to produce recordings with him 60 years ago! This swing series began with Dick Hyman and Vince Giordano, and is scheduled to end (as we go to press) with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band on July 24. Jacquet is the annual attendance record-breaker. In between are the Count Basie Band, Henry Butler and Marva Wright (on a New Orleans night), a killer rockabilly night, Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and so much more. Thousands attend, and no one stands still. I have never seen an evening where professional photographers aren't snapping snappy dancers. Privileged people used to leave Manhattan to "summer" elsewhere. Thanks to the tremendous summer arts offerings, cultured cats seem to be coming into the city instead. Visitors seeking jazz in the city are welcome to contact me by emailing hotjazz@idt.net. RETURN TO AUGUST 1999 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.