2008 Woodie Awards
Beantown to get jazzy with seventh annual festival
Lily Sussman
Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: The Inside
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Berklee College of Music is bringing jazz to Beantown.
The seventh annual BeanTown Jazz Festival, produced by Berklee College of Music and co-presented by Sovereign Bank and Target, will feature more than 30 acts at venues throughout the city today through Saturday.
"The college crowd will really like Saturday because it's free," said Allen Bush, media relations representative for the festival. "Even if you don't really follow jazz, you might find something you like. It's a great way to introduce people [to jazz]."
Bush said Boston has a history of jazz dating back to the 1940s and 1960s, when cafés lined Massachusetts and Huntington avenues, and saxophones, guitars, drums and trumpets could be heard into the morning.
All that remains are a couple of smaller jazz cafés, but the genre holds a continued significance for long-time residents and newcomers. People from all around New England look forward to the festival each year.
Saturday from noon until 6 p.m., live jazz, Latin, blues and reggae music will play on three outdoor stages set up on a six block stretch, starting at Massachusetts Avenue and continuing down Columbus Avenue.
Columbus Avenue will feature food from local vendors, face painting, crafts, a petting zoo for children and for the first time, a beer and wine garden.
Berklee College has produced the festival for the past two years. Gina Cimmelli, a music education major at Berklee, said she expects things to go smoother than last year.
"There were masses of people walking down Mass. Ave. blocking traffic," she said. "I don't think we really anticipated how many people were going to show up last year."
City Music All Stars, a band comprised of Berklee students, will perform Saturday. Bush said the All Stars were a good choice because its members are native Bostonians.
Another highlight will be the Friday night opening concert at Symphony Hall, Bush said. The venue will feature, "A Celebration of Jazz and Joyce," produced and directed by George Wein.
The seventh annual BeanTown Jazz Festival, produced by Berklee College of Music and co-presented by Sovereign Bank and Target, will feature more than 30 acts at venues throughout the city today through Saturday.
"The college crowd will really like Saturday because it's free," said Allen Bush, media relations representative for the festival. "Even if you don't really follow jazz, you might find something you like. It's a great way to introduce people [to jazz]."
Bush said Boston has a history of jazz dating back to the 1940s and 1960s, when cafés lined Massachusetts and Huntington avenues, and saxophones, guitars, drums and trumpets could be heard into the morning.
All that remains are a couple of smaller jazz cafés, but the genre holds a continued significance for long-time residents and newcomers. People from all around New England look forward to the festival each year.
Saturday from noon until 6 p.m., live jazz, Latin, blues and reggae music will play on three outdoor stages set up on a six block stretch, starting at Massachusetts Avenue and continuing down Columbus Avenue.
Columbus Avenue will feature food from local vendors, face painting, crafts, a petting zoo for children and for the first time, a beer and wine garden.
Berklee College has produced the festival for the past two years. Gina Cimmelli, a music education major at Berklee, said she expects things to go smoother than last year.
"There were masses of people walking down Mass. Ave. blocking traffic," she said. "I don't think we really anticipated how many people were going to show up last year."
City Music All Stars, a band comprised of Berklee students, will perform Saturday. Bush said the All Stars were a good choice because its members are native Bostonians.
Another highlight will be the Friday night opening concert at Symphony Hall, Bush said. The venue will feature, "A Celebration of Jazz and Joyce," produced and directed by George Wein.
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