By Ivan Pereira
On an average day, downtown Jamaica looks like your average commercial strip. Hundreds of shoppers walk up and down looking for deals, commuters make their way to the subway or the Long Island Railroad or head to a movie.
This Friday night, however, the area will transform into an international stage that will give visitors a hip midsummer celebration. Tyra Emerson of Cultural Collaborative Jamaica, which is organizing JAMS, said the nonprofit and its partners are keen on teaching the thousands of revelers to adopt environmentally friendly habits while having fun at the same time.
“We’re asking the community to be green,” she said.
The festival opens with JAMS Under the Stars, a nighttime concert at Rufus King Park with a lineup of musical acts that reflect the diversity of the African and Latin-American diasporas. The featured performer is Aurora Flores and her band Zon del Barrio, which specialize in classic dance music in the Afro-Boricua tradition.
On Saturday, JAMS morphs into an all-day street festival with live music on two stages, children’s entertainment, art demonstrations, wellness activities and a car show.
Emerson said one of the biggest acts to make an appearance during the festival is Kimati Dinizulu, a southeast Queens native. Born into a family of African musicians, Dinizulu has wowed crowds with his percussion-based tunes that not only entertain but also teach people about the culture and history of his ancestral homeland.
“We’re very excited to have Kimati. He’s performed all over the world and he lives in the community,” Emerson said.
American musical history will be alive during JAMS as well with a performance by Black Velvet Soul. The James Brown impersonator has won acclaim from soul music lovers for his uncanny renditions of hits such as “I Feel Good” and “Papa’s got a Brand New Bag.”
“He looks and plays exactly like James Brown, so we thought it was fun,” Emerson said.
The festival will also shine a light on southeast Queens’s budding artists. CCJ cast its net in the Jamaica area to recruit local talent. The selected artists and groups range from a variety of music genres, including rock, soul and hip-hop, Emerson said.
“We also did YouTube auditions for the stage because we want to give local artists the chance to perform,” she said.
The festival’s eco-consciousness efforts boast quite a lineup as well.
For starters, CCJ will set up recycling bins throughout the festival’s locations, which stretch along Jamaica Avenue from Parsons Boulevard to 170th Street.
In addition to keeping the streets of Jamaica clean, the festival will promote an environmentally friendly lifestyle with a partnership with Bellitte Bicycles, a family-owned Jamaica shop that is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, and the non-profit group Bike New York.
“They will show people the proper way to ride bikes, how to fix a bike and how to ride in traffic,” Emerson said.
JAMS organizers will also give visitors the chance to get some healthy exercise beyond dancing. Emerson said one of the most anticipated events during the festival will be hosted by former NBA great and Queens native Jayson Williams and his charity group, the Jayson Williams Foundation for Underprivileged Youth.
“He’s going to do a basketball clinic from children 8 to 14. It’s going to be big, so come and register early,” she said.
Other family-friendly events include a double Dutch competition and a chess and checkers tournament.
The concert series, which is sponsored by numerous Queens organizations including TimesLedger Newspapers, was created in 1996 to help show off downtown Jamaica’s bustling commercial district and artists from the southeast Queens area. Every year, the festival has grown in numbers, with more than 150,000 revelers coming to Jamaica Avenue last year, according to Emerson.
The organizer said she hopes the attractions will help reenergize the commercial strip in the downtown area and help local entrepreneurs during the recession.
JAMS Performance Schedule
JAMS Under the Stars – Friday June 31
Rufus King Park, 89th Avenue & 150th Street
6:00 to 10 PM
• Michael (3) Jazz Trio
• Roz Sheppard
• Southside (R&B and Funk)
• Vy Higginsen Gospel for Teens
• Aurora Flores &Zon Del Barrio (Latin Jazz)
JAMS Festival — Saturday Aug. 1
Main Stage at 164th Street
Noon to 7 p.m.
• The Flynate Project (Rap)
• Center Stage (Blues, R&B)
• Althea Hewitt (Soca – Reggae)
• L4L (Michael Jackson Tribute)
• Black Velvet (James Brown Impersonator)
• Kimati Dinizulu and his Organic Sounds
