The Pine Grill Jazz Reunion
Widely heralded as the city's greatest tribute to jazz, past and present, summer is not complete without a visit to this iconic festival. About The Reunion:
The Pine Grill Jazz Reunion is among the premiere summer music events in the Buffalo Niagara region. Held the first two Sundays in August in Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The two free concerts celebrate diversity through tribute to its truest American form -- the legacy of jazz - and the city's role in the evolution of the genre.
The Pine Grill Nightclub was located on Jefferson Avenue near Ferry, in the heart of the East Side Buffalo community. During the 50s and 60s, it was the place to be and be seen. Buffalo was the hot stop on the national jazz circuit and people from throughout the region and from all walks of life came to the nightclub to hear famous musicians from around the world. Included among the Pine Grill Nightclub alumni are Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday.
The club closed in the mid-80s and was soon after demolished. But the spirit of urban legend lived on. In 1990, promoter Maxine Harvard approached George K. Arthur, then president of the Buffalo Common Council, to mount a concert in memory of the people and performers who used to pack the old Pine Grill jazz venue. Arthur asked the African American Cultural Center to administer the project - and the rest is history.
The first concert was held in pouring rain, which did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of a crowd of 800 many of whom had not seen each other from the days of hanging together at the old Pine Grill. In 1993, the Center added the second weekend of free jazz (originally called "Jazz Under the Stars"), to honor hometown musicians who had graced the nightclub stage.
Today with a long list of national and local alumni,The Pine Grill Jazz Reunion is a much anticipated summer-in-Buffalo tradition. Each year, over the two weekends, the concerts draw together close to 10,000 Buffalonians past and present and new visitors to bring alive old memories and make new ones.
The event is funded through legislative and corporate support, and through vendors' fees. The Center also relies on small contributions from the community-at-large; for a donation of $25 or more, you can have your name printed on the back of the annual Pine Grill Jazz Reunion T-shirt.
Info found at:
www.africancultural.org/program_pinegrill.html
Related