Glocally Newark

June 17th Benefit for the Jazz in the Garden series.

June 17 was the kickoff for the well-known “Jazz in the Garden” Series held at Newark Museum’s Dreyfus Garden. The lunchtime concerts have been thrown for over 40 years. But don’t let that fact fool you into thinking it’s some ho-hum stale affair. To the contrary, the Museum offers an insanely diverse range of Artists as entertaining and unusual as their exhibits.

Though the weather prevented us from sitting in the garden, the event was successfully moved inside to the Gallery. BBQ was served first; the music started to play by the time most of the Guests were settled and enjoying the fare. The Khalil Kwame Bell Duo got on the stage.

An unexpected performance of Jazz Opera.

And how did they open? Conga drums, keyboarding…Then this Opera singer (Phumizile Sojola) walks up to the stage and serenades the crowd with his powerful voice.

Waiting for the second set.

After that set, we enjoyed another. Les McCann and Javon Jackson presented a Swiss Movement Revisited. There were “old favorites” and original pieces. The best moment IMHO was when they played Roberta Flack’s Where is the Love. It was a beautiful rendition; I almost flipped since she’s my absolute favorite singer.

Raffles and Silent Auctions rounded out the event. A great evening.

Free for Newark Residents, $3 for everyone else: Jazz in the Garden starts on June 25th!