Hyde Park Jazz Festival

In its eighth year, and no Unilocal reviews yet. Amazing.
This is a great jazz fest. Not on the level of the majors, but with terrific performers and all the elements needed to make it worth visiting.
At the main location, along the Midway Plaisance south of the university, they’ve blocked off the road and set up a long narrow venue. At each end are performance stages. In between is a terrific selection of local food vendors as well as a full selection of vendors with nothing worth stopping to see, like newspaper subscriptions and charities. As performances start the areas near the stages fill with folding chairs, both metal ones provided and over-​the-​shoulder collapsible chairs many bring with.
We saw five star sets by Ari Brown and by Dee Alexander. Backup performers for each were world class. Music was terrific. In the bright September sun it was perfect.
Their big problem is lack of space. The venues are spread all over Hyde Park, with free bus service to take you between them. At New Orleans and Newport festivals you wander from stage to stage. Here it’s a project to go wait for a bus and be transported to another stage. That is not appealing. But there’s no open space big enough in Hyde Park to accommodate the whole festival. We stayed glued to one stage for the afternoon, savoring the music, but seeing none of the rest.
Loved my $ 7 beers and $ 10 huge portion of jerk chicken, red beans and rice, and plantains.

Free jazz from great artists in great locations throughout Hyde Park. There is a $ 5 suggested donation, so support the cause. Too bad it’s only a weekend. Bring a blanket and some snacks and drinks and enjoy a great afternoon before fall sets in for good!