Jazzmobile Summerfest Continues This Friday

In celebration of Max Roach 100, the legendary late jazz drummer, composer, bandleader, activist, will be honored with a performance by M’BOOM + HORNS, in Marcus Garvey Park on August 16, starting at 7:00 pm. Commissioned by Jazzmobile with a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation and Harlem Grown | CCCI, the Music Directors are the original founding member Warren Smith and former member Bobby Sanabria. Founded in 1970 by the legendary Max Roach, M'BOOM is an ensemble comprised completely of percussionists using orchestral percussion instruments – marimba, xylophone, tympani, vibes, orchestra bells, gongs, the American drum set, Afro-Latin percussion and the Trinidadian steel pan. The original ensemble featured Roach, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Omar Clay, Joe Chambers, Roy Brooks and Ray Mantilla. Sheila Anderson, on air host of WBGO 88.3 Radio, is the evening’s Emcee.

M'Boom with Horns is led by maestros Smith and Sanabria. The percussion ensemble will feature Jay Hoggard, Bryan Carrot, Reggie Nicholson and Lyndon Achee, with a horn section comprised of NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Owens (trumpet), Craig Harris(trombone), Camille Thurman (tenor sax, vocals), and Patience Higgins (alto, soprano sax, flute).

Son to tenor saxophonist Antoine Roney and nephew to the late trumpeter Wallace Roney and the legendary late pianist Gerri Allen, the talented young drummer Kojo Melché Roneywill be the first act of the evening. The concert is dedicated to Maestro Roach’s contributions to the advancement/evolution of the tradition of the American jazz drum set which he impacted greatly as an innovative virtuosic soloist by adding elements of melodicism, coordinated independence as well as his gifts as a composer, activist, and bandleader.

This week, performing on the Jazzmobile “Summerfest Stage” is Willie Villegas and the Joe Cuba Sextet at Grant’s Tomb on August 14, presented with The New Heritage Theatre Group, also celebrating it’s 60th Anniversary; and on Saturday at 3:00 pm, Jazzmobile Summerfest, together with the Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM), will be in the garden of the LAHM in Corona Queens (34-56 107th Street) to present the Anthony Hervey Quartet and Zaccai Curtis Quartet. Support for this concert comes from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.

All Concerts are weather permitting, Free and Open to the Public. For updates go to www.jazzmobile.org

Jazzmobile’s annual Summerfest 2024 features a myriad of jazz performances throughout the city’s five boroughs, with nearly 30 jazz stars and emerging talents from July 2 to September 20. This year it marks the 60th anniversary of Jazzmobile. Founded in 1964 by National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, pianist Dr. Billy Taylor, and philanthropist and arts administrator, Ms. Daphne Arnstein, Jazzmobile is the first U.S. not-for-profit arts and cultural organization created just for Jazz featuring performances, workshops, master classes, lecture demonstrations, and arts enrichment programs.