The Ventura Village "First Annual Grape and Jazz Fest went off with a lot of fun and a great deal of good music. The Lambs were cooked to a wonderful brown and along with some other dishes fed approximately 125 to 130 people and three dogs during the course of the day. People came and went from 3:00PM to 8:00 in the evening. The band(s) almost never stopped playing. By the end of the day ten musicians had played and there were two singers. One not so great (yours truly) and one absolutely marvelous professional singer in Aaron (aka AK) Stewart. Stewart has a wonderful jazz voice that just drips with mellow.
Someone asked how many bands played, but I could not tell. I think three, but could not tell who was who after the first band. They switched players in and out without missing a beat. Sometimes there were three people playing and sometimes six or seven. It did not seem to matter who was playing with who. Someone would take a break and eat or have something to drink and some one different would take his place, but the music would continue just as good as ever. Eric Fransen's UH Jazz Band led off without their sax player, who came later, but after that it was just a continuous good sound. The one constant seemed to be Eric Fransen playing piano. Eric, a Ventura Village resident, helped put the party on but he only stopped to eat. He played awesome piano for almost five hours straight. There are musicians floating around this Minneapolis town that can flat get down. Ali Giarushi gives true meaning to Community involvement. Though Ali's Dollar Store was forced out of business in the neighborhood he continues to be part of the "Community". Ali contributed most of two whole days to making the party enjoyable for everyone. We in the neighborhood miss his other involvement. Ali always contributed to every charity or cause that came his way. His contributions to Indian children were one of the reason's he was given an award as businessperson of the year by Ventura Village the year he was forced to move out. The neighborhood fought to keep him and those wonderful McDonald Sisters and Sister Rose participated in demonstrations to keep him. Unfortunately we lost that battle, but fortunately we did not lose this great friend. He continues to be a valuable member of OUR "Community". He also proven two years in a row that it's possible to cook great lamb even with (or in spite of) the help of Jim Graham The party was due to end at 7:30 but went a little longer, and the bands again had great timing. As they wound up their last number od the day (so Eric and AK could rush off to get to their "paid" gig), the police came to warn that someone had complained about the "noise". Everyone got a good laugh at that. We wondered why they do not stop the cars with the super bases that shake the houses half a block away, yet come to stop some of the best music the neighborhood has experienced, and at a neighborhood celebration at that. As luck would have it the police car contained one of the Highway Patrol on loan to chase the drug dealers. We all laughed that at least they were around, so we could not complain. One of the amusing things was the lack of communication that must occur with the police. I had invited all the Third Precinct officers on duty that day to one and all stop by and eat, as well as meet neighbors. I guess the desk officer did not pass the invitation on to the special highway patrol ride along cars. All the musicians enjoyed themselves (even though not being paid) and thanked us for having them. They plan to bring even more musicians next year. A couple of the musicians commented that in years to come they will be able to brag that they played at the first Grape and Jazz Festival on Franklin Avenue. Minneapolis needs something like "Grand Old Days". A jazz and wine festival on Equinox weekend each fall would be wonderful. Such things change our City, and immeasurably add to the quality of life in our City. Next year will come soon, and you are all invited. Jim Graham, Ventura Village >"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies, revolution into minds, and music into hearts." REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
