Yesterday afternoon I took a walk up to Piedmont Park to see what the Atlanta Jazz Festival was like. It was actually quite nice. Piedmont Park is a great set-up for music festivals, with a wide flat green for the stage, surrounded by hills with barbeque pits.
The upper area was full of tents and families barbequeing; walking through them reminded me of the neutral ground on St. Charles during Mardi Gras. It smelled delicious. The lower area was filled with umbrellas and lawn chairs. I was there early, so it wasn’t quite full yet, but there were still a good bit of people there. A couple of park security guards were walking around telling people that they couldn’t stick their umbrellas directly in the ground. But instead of making them take them down, they had the festival-goers cover up the base of the shafts with bags or coolers so you couldn’t see the umbrella was stuck in the ground. I was a little taken aback by the reasonable behavior. I guess I’m just not used to that.
The only band I saw was the Peachtree Ridge High School Jazz Band from Smyrna, Georgia. They were cute, and rocked the Blood, Sweat & Tears and Dave Brubeck. It reminded me of my high school days in the Brother Martin Jazz Band. They were pretty nervous at first, but by their last song, they actually sounded really good. They finished their set list early, and played their opening number again at the end of their set. It was a huge improvement over the first time they played it. They had earned the festival opening spot by winning 3rd place in a Youth Jazz Band competition. Not bad for a school that has only been open for two years. The band leader reminded me of the band leader we had at Brother Martin: young, formerly hip, not yet completely jaded.
I’d like to go back and see the Tito Puente, Jr Orchestra tonight at 8:30, but its raining now, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get anyone interested in going.