Photo Credit: Lauryn Jackson (Bill Jacobs – vibes/percussion; Alex Neil Clarke – percussion; Chacho Ramirez – drums/percussion; Alex Blake – bass; Al “Winky” Flythe – tenor sax; Dwight Brewster – keyboard/percussions/vocals)

Within 15 minutes of my entering the room, a couple in the front row had already glided out of their seats, bodies jiving in sync with the background percussion.   I turned to the back, and one gentleman had popped out of his seat and was in the aisle waltzing with an unseen partner.   And throughout the night a woman seated in the fourth row, robed in a regal white gown and headdress offered her own melodic accompaniment to the musical ensemble at work before us.   Around the room the rest of us, though “seated” in the physical sense of the word, bopped our heads, tapped our toes and widened our smiles, too enchanted by the rhythm, melody, harmony, bips, bops, riffs, pangs, twangs, and scats of the band to do much else. It was damp outside this past Friday evening, but inside the auditorium of Medgar Evers College the air was crisp and jovial with the sounds of Dr. Mambo and the Experience Ensemble’s live jazz performance.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Prince

As has happened every Friday this summer, rain and shine, three nights ago Medgar Evers College hosted their weekly Jazzy Jazz concert series, produced by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC).   The series brings to Crown Heights a rotation of professional jazz musicians and bands who love to perform and entertain.   In a nod to the upcoming 2009 Caribbean Day Parade, the Experience Ensemble, which specializes in Afro-Caribbean jazz, took the stage this Friday past. Their sets are inspired by sounds of the tropics – Africa, Cuba and right here in the Americas.   Myself and about 30 other passengers were transported to some of the most exotic places around the world – all through music – with vocalist and radio personality Dwight Brewster as our captain.

To boot, this three hour global jazz concert was FREE (an amazing deal even compared to the increasingly popular all-you-can-fly airline pass).   The upcoming show on August 28th will be the last concert this summer. Charles Dougherty and Shanto will be performing.  Even for the novice jazz enthusiast (as this blogger is), if you need a place to impress a date, a place to take the kids or if you simply want something to do, the Jazzy Jazz series comes highly recommended.

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