Yesterday, in the midst of flea markets, Infringement events and the Garden Walk, we managed to make it over to the Queen City Jazz Festival for a spell. Not only did we get a chance to listen to a plethora of jazz greats at the outdoor stage, we also got an opportunity to check out the Colored Musician’s Club with more live music upstairs and an interactive museum on the first floor.
The interactive displays and exhibits in the museum, designed by Hadley Exhibits in Buffalo (see here), are spellbinding. Every corner nook offers a place to immerse yourself into the jazz history of this city. From the equipment to the instruments, the players, the sounds, the recordings – it’s a colorful inside look at a cultural asset (jazz, jazz, jazz) that is alive and well to this day.
Anyone who attended the Queen City Jazz Festival walked away with a deeper appreciation for the Colored Musician’s Club, the dedicated jazz artists and enthusiasts that live among us, and an area of the city that is just brimming with potential. If you have never taken the opportunity to attend this event, be sure to do so next year. The festival is an awesome display of music brilliance, not to mention the fortitude of a players’ club that has tested the sands of time.
What I found most interesting about the fans who came out to listen to the music was that many of them couldn’t even see the musicians. People were tucked around corners of buildings and sitting on grass in side yards (playing cards, having picnics, or just sitting and tapping feet).
The festival wasn’t as much of a visual experience as it was a permeating sound experience. Everyone was in tune with the players and the scene. It was simply magical to be a part of such a spiritual gathering of people who have a deep appreciation for the sounds of jazz and its deep roots in Buffalo and America.