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Jazz & Blues Walk strolls through 10 downtown venues on Saturday
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Posted by: editoron Thursday, July 08, 2010 - 10:01 AM |
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Preview by Al Lubiejewski
Contributing writer
From the bayfront to the Brewerie at the revitalized train station, downtown Erie has become the hub for delicious food and exciting music. In years past, the coolest way to explore it was cruising it in your dad's 1957 Chevy.
But that's not so bad. We now get to window-shop as we canter past the brightly lit State Street clubs and restaurants, smelling their spices, feeling their rhythms, and soaking in the atmosphere.
This Saturday night, JazzErie presents its 15th annual Jazz & Blues Walk. For this event, JazzErie has selected 10 of Erie's best downtown area clubs and restaurants and staffed them with 10 of Erie's best jazz and blues bands.
According to co-chairwomen Liz Scarpelli and Mary Watson, this event is geared for people who love their music washed by summer breezes and shared by flocks of birds-of-a-feather.
Scarpelli, the former treasurer of JazzErie, says the Walk provides the cash for the organization's upcoming concert season. With charitable funding dwindling, Scarpelli says it's vital to take up the slack with what's hoped to be heightened profits from the best Walk yet.
That's all well and good for JazzErie. But what do you get in exchange for your hard earned dollars?
"Ten bars and 10 bands for just 10 bucks" has always been the answer.
But let's take a closer look.
"We have several excellent new clubs and bands this year" Watson said.
For example, the new eatery, 1201 Kitchen, will serve tasty vittles to the tempo of top-shelf jazz. That jazz comes from Downbeat award-winning baritone saxophonist, Bruce Johnstone, who'll make his long-awaited return to the Walk in the company of Carl Hultman and Friends.
Another new venue this year is Ti Martwonis on the site of the old Papermoon where pianist Jim Madden and Friends will bust a knuckle.
Additionally, Matthew's Trattoria marks its prized return to Lovell Place and the Walk with the hard bop of the Dave Callaghan Band in Matthew's open-air courtyard.
New groups include the Barry King Blues Band at Scotty's and jazzman Eric Brewer at Brewerie.
More good news. The open-air trolleys finally return to the delight of many former riders. Eschewed by JazzErie in the past several years in favor of two large Greyhound-style buses, the windowless-and-doorless trolleys are much easier to board, much nimbler, and way more inviting of the balmy summer sights, sounds, and smells of State Street.
Plus, the trolleys can sprightly whisk tired feet to off-State Street haunts like Matthew's, Scotty's, and the East Erie Turners without a fuss.
Speaking of the balmy summer air, the Duke Sherman Blues Band will play its fiery Chicago-styled blues over cooling gentle breezes on the outdoor patio of the Plymouth Tavern.
You can view the rest of the lineup in the Jazz and Blues Walk schedule at right.
Of course, the whole affair starts as always with the opening reception at 7 p.m. at the Erie Art Museum. Here you'll be treated to finger foods, liquid refreshments, tours of the museum's fabulous paintings and sculptures, and the hugely popular sounds of singer Katie Chriest and guitarist Sheldon Peterson.
Relax on the steps of the museum with a brew and a handful of hors d'oeuvres and scan the crowd for those good friends and neighbors you haven't seen in a while.
Then, at the stroke of 8, grab their hands, don your Nancy Sinatra walking boots, and head out with hundreds of others for a cool night of hot sounds.
Al Lubiejewski is an attorney, freelance writer, and JazzErie member who hosts both "Bop 'n the Blues" and "Jazz Ballads, and Blues" on WQLN FM 91.3.
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