Last weekend was another event filled weekend in downtown Flint, with the 41st Flint Jazz Festival and the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball tournament!
Featured photo: Cherisse Bradley
Written by L.M. Land/Photos by L.M. Land
The Greater Flint Arts Council’s Jazz Festival was soulful from beginning to end, with music by locals and others from around the United States.
Jazz Walk began the festival on Thursday, July 27, at downtown restaurants and bars, each featuring a different artist.
The next three days were filled with music at Riverbank Park.
Brenda Johnson has flown in from Los Angeles, California for the last three years to attend the festival, and plans to return next year. She also has family in Flint. So, it is a double win for her.
Why come to Flint?
“The music is first class,” Johnson explained. “In L.A., I pay between $50 to $100 for one band. Here is $10 for several a day.”
There were also fans from as far away as Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Utah in the audience.
Adam Hawley, Marion Meadows and Brian Simpson were the headliners, all playing at the top of their craft. Michigan artists are just as talented, and featured in part Blu Mykals, Tapology, Cherisse Bradley and the Isaac Ryder Band. Bradley was the only female headliner, but Kimberly Wright, lead singer of Straight Ahead, sang with the Raphael Banks group. Breezy Collins sang backup for Bradley.
The Jazz Festival was sponsored by HAP, Totem Books, Kettering, PFCU Credit Union and Mott Community College.
Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball
The Flat Lot at Saginaw and Kearsley Streets was filled with basketballs and players on Saturday the 29 through Sunday the 30. This is the third year of the Gus Macker tournament. Prior to that time, it had been 20 years since the tournament was in Flint.
The event was hosted by the Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village. One hundred eighty teams from this region participated this year.
