Let The Music Play: No Money, but Medgar Evers Concert Series Survives

[Brooklyn: Music]

The show continues!

After a last-minute appeal from the public, Medgar Evers College administrators moved to save Dr. Mary Umolu's legacy, the Jazzy Jazz Festival, from being shunted aside for the 2012 season. 

According to promoter Michael Howard, their initial Jazzy Jazz planning meeting with Medgar Evers officials looked positive. But they were baffled as they watched the passing of precious summer weeks without a word from the administration, despite their repeated phone calls which were met with  reticence.    

So Mr. Howard wrote an open letter to Howard Johnson, Provost of Medgar Evers through The Black Star News, which sparked a public response, resulting in a battery of calls to the administration.   

The show will go on, but in a truncated form with limited financing, Howard reports.  Instead of the original 12 nights throughout the summer, the schedule was cut to five Friday nights in August, beginning August 3.

"This historically Black institution will finally keep its commitment to the community by stepping up to the plate to uphold a tradition, in its fifteenth year," Howard said.  

The shows run every Friday through August, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Jazzy Jazz Festival, featuring world-class artists, will be held at the at the Medgar Evers Ampitheatre.

"Speaking Truth To Empower."