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Stormy Weather
BY ERIN PATRICIA THERESA CANNING
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What better way to
spend a Saturday than with friends, at a park pitched
with tents swaying in the breeze and jazz in the air?
On June 14, I hopped in the car with two of my best
friends and set out for an afternoon of relaxation and
entertainment at the Takoma Park JazzFest 8 at Jequie
Park. An hour later, we found our parking space, placed
our hands on the car door handles, and…monsoon.
A downpour welcomed us to the park, while the musicians
took a hiatus and the main tent turned into a shelter.
About 80 people were huddled together. waiting for the
storm to finish and the music to resume, while others
leapfrogged over the puddles or ventured to their cars.
The tents housing T-shirts, jewelry, barbeque, and ice
cream vendors turned into waterfalls as the water gushed
from overhead.
But the storm did not dampen the attitudes of the attendees,
or the children on the jungle gym. Though the sound
of jazz had been drummed out by the rhythm of rain,
the people relaxed and soaked up the early evening.
Kyle Green, a frequent Takoma Park visitor, arrived
at sunny 12:30 p.m., and spent his second JazzFest with
friends, and lunched a falafel pita wrap. The subsequent
rain didn't bother him at all.
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"I enjoyed every drip of it," he said. "The
rain was beautiful, it kept the dust down."
Dr. Paul Long, Vice President of the JazzFest's Beard of
Directors, has grown accustomed to the rain, considering it
has been an element of the festival for all of its eight years.
Long smiled at the similarities between this JazzFest and
the one of 1999, when a downpour called for a hiatus as well
but once the rain ended, Charlie Bryd took to the stage, playing
"Blue Skies." The 1999 festival was one of Byrd's
last performances before his death.
This year's JazzFest performances began at 11 a.m. with the
Hokum Jazz Band (Esther Haynes, J.C. Veve, and Nick Smiley).
Also performing was the 2003 Jammie Award-winning Neal-Anderson
Quartet, the Federal Jazz Commission, and Jam Session. Headliner
Chuck Redd, the Takoma Park jazz great, was the planned finale,
but his performance was one of the rain's casualties.
This year's JazzFest marked Bruce Krohmer's first year as
producer of the event. Overall, Krohmer was pleased: this
year had the biggest crowd yet. Next year, he hopes to take
the JazzFest to a bigger location, enabling the festival to
expand. And despite the rain asking the Daryl Davis Band for
an early curtain call, With five of seven acts performing
before the rain came, Krohmer considers JazzFest 8 a success.
"The music was great. Everyone enjoyed it," Krohmer
said. "And it came with a typical ending."
See
the photos of JazzFest 8
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