MAYOR SANDERS JAZZES UP ASBURY PARK'S MUSIC SCENE
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/22/07
BY CARLTON WILKINSON
CORRESPONDENT
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As a resident of Asbury Park for five years and a relative newcomer to the area jazz scene, I am apparently the last to discover that our mayor is a jazz musician.
A percussionist, keyboard player and singer, the name of the honorable Kevin G. Sanders lately has been popping up left and right this summer both as a performer and as a producer of jazz events, including a newly inaugurated series of afternoon concerts at the city's train station.
But while I may have been in the dark, many others were not. A homegrown celebrity as a vibraphonist and multi-instrumentalist, Sanders already is well-known to most local jazz fans.
"They all know," Sanders said in a recent interview. "I come from a family where most of my whole family are musicians. I have a daughter who sings. She is going to the performing arts school this year.
"I've been a jazz musician most of my life," he added. "My favorite instrument is vibes, but I play all percussion instruments, keyboards — I do a little singing."
The Mayor's Players is a combo featuring Sanders that is scheduled to perform in the Boardwalk Summer Series in August. But he also will be sitting in with several of the area bands that will be playing at any of the clubs and venues in the area. He has played at the now-closed El Lobo Negro art gallery, sponsors of a vibrant jazz night program, and its successor, the Joyful Noise Cafe on Asbury Avenue.
As a producer of concerts, Sanders is probably known best for his role in the Asbury Park Jazz Festival, which is sponsored by the city and this year attracted a roster of national and international performers and several important large sponsors.
"That's our signature event," he said. "This year, it was on the same lines as the Newport Jazz Festival or any other" national jazz gathering.
As community leaders, Sanders and other officials see the city's ties to jazz history as a tool to bring together the different types of people that make up Asbury Park's melting pot.
"Our yearly jazz fest, we use that to promote togetherness in Asbury Park. It's like a big family reunion," Sanders said. "People who haven't been in Asbury Park for a while come back. People from all parts of the city come.
"Jazz crosses all boundaries, all groups — age, sex, race, orientation, everything," he added.
Sanders said he is old enough to remember the bustling row of music clubs and parade of performers that came through this city in the 1960s.
"James Brown was here, the Ohio Players," Sanders said. "I couldn't even name them all; I couldn't do justice to all the people that did come here. No matter how many I remembered, probably other people would say, "I was here, too! I was here, too!' "
With all that history, it seemed natural to use the Chill Out Jazz Series performances to promote the city with performances at the Transportation Center, part of a larger effort to revamp the station and promote Asbury as a destination spot.
"We wanted to draw attention to other parts of the city," the mayor said. "The train station is one place we are planning to revamp.
"Councilman Ed Johnson is working with NJ Transit to get the Transportation Center either . . . reconfigured or fixed up. He's working with them on a comprehensive plan."
While the outcome of those discussions remains uncertain, Sanders said this year's initiative to bring in jazz bands from all over the state for regular afternoon performances already has had an effect.
"It's been excellent so far," he said. "People who normally would go straight home from the train will say, "Hey I got time for this quick concert, and then maybe I can get something to eat in town here,' before they go home. We are trying to spur economic growth in the area."
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