I went tonight for the first time and I must say, it is the best event I've been to in Glen Ellyn, by far. The organizers did a wonderful job.

Let me ask however, why do we not do an event like this once a month? We could have Ralph's World one month, Jazz another, the Children Choir another, Battle of the Bands another, the Village Theater another, etc. etc. What a boon this would be for downtown and the community. GoDowntown - get on it! I'll help if need be...it's a no brainer.

Anyways, kudos to those who organized this event. The beer was good, the food was good and the ambiance was great.

quote:

Let me ask however, why do we not do an event like this once a month?

I'd be willing to volunterr to help pull these events together, but here's the rub-how many others would make themselves available to work these? Fan? We can't get more than 10 people to help with the GEBD clean-up. Nice idea, the devil is in the detail.

Just got back, was there then entire day.

BRILLIANT.

I cannot say enough about this event. The music is incredible, food and drink is great, the people are wonderful, and the town is alive like it should be.

WDCB puts on an incredible show.

It just could not get any better than this event. Can't want to Jazz Fest 2009!

I should add, Jazz is not everyone's bag, I know. But WDCB seems to find acts that cross over into other genres.

CHEVERE was the closing act. They are very much jazz, but they are also funk, latin, rock and blues. And they flat out ROCKED the house tonight. A stage full of excellent musicians just loving what they do and playing with such passion. It was an incredibe set that was about an hour too short though.

I think Fan has the right idea-a monthly musical fests from June-Sept. would probably generate incredible buzz for GE. The Jazz fest could be the template for the others, but it still requires time & effort to pull it off. It would start with a commitment from local business's & village leadership.

But this is America and we will move onto the next thing, and discuss over a beer how great the Jazz fest is and hope someone else will do something about adding additional music fests.

Hats off to the folks who did put this together, from what it's seems like they have done a great job.

BTW-When is the Ackerman woods clean-up scheduled for and how many people will be out there?

Redundant quote removed. --Ted E.

It doesn't have to be a music festival but an arts festival. It can be music, it can be plays, it could be food (real food), it could be art, etc.

Serve beer and alcohol in an outdoor setting, and you'll draw a crowd....that's for sure.

You want to help local merchants, you want to revitalize downtown, then start hosting these events more...you'll see a huge improvement IMO.

Even go so far as to put the onus on a Glen Ellyn organization to host one month out of the year. Newcomers, EDC, COC, Juniors, CGEPreservation, GoDowntown, DowntownAlliance, etc. That way, there would instill some level of competition between the groups and each group would try to "out-do" the other....all to the benefit of the Village, its residents and its merchants.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ted E.,

I could not agree with everyone more! What a fantastic evening, and we're not even into jazz. But, we did walk down and visited some stores we have never bothered with, bought some things, went to dinner and spent more money, bought some tickets for a couple glasses of wine, sat down and enjoyed some great music. Hey, wait a minute village of Glen Ellyn . . . I'll be darned . . . we went to our own downtown, enjoyed it and spent money! Interesting concept!
Kudos to the folks that put this together. Maybe they have landed on a good idea? Add to it? "The American Music Series"? Three concerts during the summer, Bluegrass, Jazz and Blues? A wonderful location, good music and good food, sounds like a draw. Just a thought.
So, now I need to take my newly purchased "Blue Echos" print to the frame shop.

Coming back from the Ralph Covert concert at the Arboretum this morning (awesome event by the way) had me thinking....

Every music fest in the city and burbs has kids music but it's always on some side stage and seems to be an after thought.

Glen Ellyn should really have a weekend long "Kids-apalooza". Not a kiddie carnival... not a fair... but actually a weekend long Kids Rock and Folk Fest.

There are great resources at Old Town for local acts through the Wiggleworms program that have released albums. Then, fill it out with a couple of national acts for headliners.... like Ralph's World or They Might Be Giants or Imagination Movers.

Maybe not the MOST attractive event for folks without kids or with older kids, but I'd bet it would really bring people to town. Plus, when you have people like Jon Langford of the Mekons or Dan Zanes or Jeff Tweedy... or even Ralph Covert... who many parents used to see (or continue to see) in Rock Concert form doing these kids shows... it could actually be a pretty good time for all.

There is a jazz concert at Lake Ellyn this week too, isn't there? 7pm Wednesday is what I wrote on my calendar. Anyone know if this is accurate?

I agree with all the laudatory comments. What a wonderful community event. Great with the merchants that stayed open - I hope they made some sales.

Gotta say that final band had BETTER have sounded good after that interminable soundcheck!

Three cheers to everyone involved - from the organizers and performers to the attendees.

Just got back from out of town and reading my new assignments!

Love all the ideas- absolutely in favor of them. Why not put another twist on them: solicit philanthropic groups to hold fundraisers downtown with the events listed as their theme?

For example, I heard rumors that Junior's is trying to pull together a Corn Hole Toss Tournament (the Bean Bag Game) as a fundraiser in October in the Main Street Parking Lot. They are looking to involve the downtown businesses to sell beverages and food as well as provide either outdoor screens to watch football or live entertainment.

If the philanthropic groups host the events, it takes the pressure off of the other groups to raise the money or find volunteers to do it themselves.

Just a thought. As for Go Downtown!, the organization has no cash and is trying to stay out of the fundraising business so as to not deal with the tax people. However, we are always happy to supply advertising on our website or newsletter for free! We may also have a member who is willing to help organize an event, so feel free to ask us if someone is reading this and needs help with an event.

Warning, photographs of extremely talented jazz musicians ahead.

No crowd photos, fluffy dog photos, dancing children or elderly couple photos, businesses with many shoppers in them photos, village presidents enjoying the day (?) photos, beer serving trustee photos, annoying photographers standing in front of people and pissing them off instead of letting them enjoy the show photos, and no sleeping fest goer photos.

Just the musicians in their natural habitat doing what they love to do:

http://www.blue-echoes.com/gallery/jf2008/

Nice photos! #34, That guy doesn't want his picture taken.

quote:

Originally posted by GEM:
#34, That guy doesn't want his picture taken.

no way, Alejo Poveda is great! He was giving me his, "look at me, serious drummer dude" look. He is a totally a fun guy, that was the only shot I got of him not giving me a cheesy smile or thumbs up! What a great great musician and great guy!

I highly suggest you pick up Chevere's album:

http://www.cheverechicago.com/

They were absolutely fantastic.

Some Chevere photos from GEJF and Evanston's Ethnic fest. I wish they were on a bigger stage, it was like shooting sardines. I had to shoot tight and could not get them playing their instruments unless something was in the way:

http://www.blue-echoes.com/gallery/chevere/