By Arlene McKanic
“This is too good to be true,” I thought on my way to Jambalaya, the concert held at Flushing Town Hall the evening after the Big Blackout. “They should have black outs all the time if the buses are going to run like this.” For the Q11 not only came on time, but the Q34 was free. Traffic was light (till Main Street in Flushing), the evening was warm and clear, people hung out on their lawns and in the parks.
The day felt like Sunday. The bus was so early that I got off and nipped into the faboo A&C Oriental grocers on 41-41 Kissena Blvd. Later I gave a celery stalk to the lady bus driver on the next Q34. When she asked me where I had been stuck during the blackout I told her I lived in Rochdale, which has its own power plant, so we weren’t affected.
“Get out!” she gasped.
The concert took place in the shaded side garden at Flushing Town Hall, and was well attended. A few people lugged their own lawn chairs in, though enough seats were provided for just about everyone. It was warm but now and then there was a small breeze. There was the smell of roasted coffee from somewhere.
The New York based multinational group Source performed on the hall’s tiny balcony. They were made up of about five musicians, though sometimes they didn’t all play at once. Mali-born front man Abdoulaye Diabate couldn’t be there, having fallen victim to the blackout that was still bedeviling parts of the city. However, Source did a superb job of playing their version of West African smooth jazz.
The first song featured Bailo Bah on the tambin (Fulani flute) while a musician from Rwanda performed the vocals. I’m not sure whether he was singing in another language, whether he was scatting, or whether he was scatting in another language. But the effect of the song, and all of the songs, was entrancing. The sets were long, unhurried, and filled with improvisations. Now and again people got up and danced on the thick, cool grass of the lawn.
At one point the garden lights went out. A quick look around reassured folks that it was only the garden lights; the lights in the hall and on the streets were still burning. They came back on during a catchy, ska flavored song near the end of the second set, then the concert came satisfyingly to an end. By the way, it was presented with funds from J.P. Morgan Chase and Astoria Federal Savings.
Jambalaya! was the second of the free summer garden concerts presented by Flushing Town Hall this summer. The next one will be Hot Spices! — Indo-Caribbean and Chutney music from the West Indies — to be performed Friday, Aug. 29.
For more information, call 718-463-7700
