DATE: THU, AUG 29, 6 PM
VENUE: Baisley Pond Park (Jamaica)
TICKETS: FREE! No reservation required—just show up!
Come early! The first 100 attendees will receive a newly printed Queens Jazz Trail Map!

Experience the vibrant legacy of jazz in the heart of Queens this summer! The Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series takes you on a musical journey through the borough’s rich jazz heritage, where legends like Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and scores of others once called home.

Inspired by Flushing Town Hall’s iconic Queens Jazz Trail Map, the series brings this rich history to life in our community parks. Join us for a series of five Thursday evening concerts, each set against the backdrop of Queens’ beautiful parks. These FREE outdoor performances celebrate the past, present, and future of jazz, showcasing talented musicians and honoring the borough’s legendary artists.

Get ready for an electrifying tribute to the musical legends of Jamaica, Queens, featuring  the music of Don Blackman, Bernard Wright, Casey Benjamin, and many more. Join us to celebrate their legacy and honor their legendary contributions to funk, jazz, and soul.

Don “Minister of Funk” Blackman (1953-2013) was a jazz/funk pianist and singer/songwriter born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York. He had a successful and legendary career in the entertainment industry. He began his career in the early 1970s playing with jazz, funk and soul greats such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Roy Ayers, and  Parliament/Funkadelic, to name a few. He joined jazz fusion drummer Lenny White’s band Twennynine, penning songs on their 1979 album Best of Friends, stemming hits like “Peanut Butter” and “Morning Sunrise”. Blackman released his debut solo album in 1982 with Arista records titled ‘Don Blackman’ which featured such hits as “Holding You, Loving You”, “Heart’s Desire”, and “Since You’ve Been Away So Long”. His album is considered iconic by many musicians and DJ’s, and is heavily sought after and studied by artists of today. He has appeared on albums by Janet Jackson, The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, David Sanborn, Najee, Bernard Wright, Sting, Mary J. blige, Kaytranada, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakar, Jay-Z, and the list goes on. Blackman has also written and produced scores for commercials, television, and movies. He is notably a composer of the theme song and soundtrack of the classic children’s TV show “Gullah Gullah Island”.  Don Blackman’s musical legacy lives on through many artists, including his children Irene Blackman and Kyle Blackman, who continue to pay tribute to their father by performing and releasing new music around the world. 

Bernard Wright (1963-2022) bridged and blurred genres throughout a career that encompassed jazz, R&B, hip-hop, contemporary gospel, and reggae, but he was known most for jazz-funk, what he viewed as a hybrid of two equally valid art forms. Taken under the wings of fellow Jamaica, Queens natives Weldon Irvine, Don Blackman, and Lenny White, Wright was a seasoned touring keyboardist and session musician by the time he debuted as a teenaged leader with ‘Nard (1981). After his second album, Funky Beat (1983), he reached his commercial peak with Mr. Wright (1985), home to the Top Ten R&B single “Who Do You Love.” After that trio of LPs, Wright cut gospel albums and as a sideman moved fluidly across styles, collaborating with the likes of Marcus Miller, Miles Davis, and godmother Roberta Flack. Long before his death in 2022, he became known as a mentor for bands such as Snarky Puppy.

Casey Benjamin (1978-2024) was an American saxophonist, vocoderist, keyboardist, producer, and songwriter whose untimely death in 2024 at the age of 45 shocked and saddened the entire jazz community, especially within his hometown of Jamaica, Queens. Among many other credits and accolades, he was a member of the Robert Glasper Experiment which won two Grammy Awards for their albums Black Radio 1& 2. He was one half of the funk pop new wave duo HEAVy with vocalist Nicky Guiland.

Presented by Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, Flushing Town Hall, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum, in partnership with NYC Parks.