The Southeast Queens. Heart for Historical past & Tradition is internet hosting the primary ever Jazz Historic Bike Tour on Saturday, Might 17.
Courtesy of the SEQCHC
Strap in your helmets for Southeast Queen’s first-ever jazz historic bike tour.
The Jazz and Heritage Bike Tour, hosted by the Southeast Queens Heart for Historical past &Tradition (SEQCHC), will take locals by means of a number of websites of native and historic significance.
The occasion will probably be held on Saturday, Might 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting on the Black Spectrum Theatre, positioned at 177-01 Baisley Blvd. in Jamaica.
Ayanna Telfort, president and co-founder of the SEQCHC, mentioned she hopes the bike tour will entice individuals of all ages wanting to study Queens’ wealthy jazz historical past. “There are such a lot of landmarks and locations of be aware within the space, and we mentioned that is one thing completely different. There have been strolling excursions and occasions within the parks, so we needed to do one thing completely different however nonetheless deliver all these various kinds of of us collectively,” she mentioned.
Telfort mentioned SEQCHC drew inspiration from the Queens Jazz Path, an annual occasion hosted by Flushing City Corridor and the Kupferberg Heart for the Arts. The organizations draw consideration to the jazz legends that lived within the borough, and host summer-long jazz live shows for music lovers throughout town.
Members will experience previous the previous properties of Depend Basie, positioned close to the St. Alban’s LIRR, jazz Legend Ella Fitzgerald, and wall murals regarding Southeast Queens’ Hip-Hop historical past. Throughout every cease, SEQCHC guides will share the historical past of the earlier homeowners and their significance in Queens’ historic jazz scene.
Telfort defined how important it’s to learn the way earlier Southeast Queens locals formed the Black historical past and historic panorama of the neighborhood.” Music connects us all, and jazz is one thing is actually an American artwork kind, began by African People and Black individuals on this nation,” she mentioned.
Traditionally, Southeast Queens was a secure haven for jazz legends, enterprise homeowners, and different profitable Black professionals who have been barred from dwelling in Manhattan and different elements of New York Metropolis. “It was actually vital that they discovered a haven right here. They felt a way of security and constructed a way of group. You consider of us like Billie Vacation, Dizzy Gillespie, and Louis Armstrong, all of them discovered Southeast Queens as a refuge. I actually suppose it’s vital for people to know that the by-product music that they take heed to now got here from these of us,” she mentioned.
Telfort mentioned that she hopes the expertise will encourage reflection on Southeast Queens’ wealthy historical past and inspire residents to be concerned in future advocacy.
“Hopefully, this evokes pleasure of their local people, and that pleasure then fuels them to say, you realize what? I need to be sure that this group stays sturdy. That may gasoline financial growth, different cultural advances within the space, and actually join individuals extra,” she mentioned.
For the reason that path begins and ends at Black Spectrum Theatre in Roy Wilkins Park, Telfort is encouraging attendees to go to the theatre to be taught its position in Southeast Queens’ Jazz and Hip-Hop historical past.
Nonriders inquisitive about becoming a member of within the enjoyable can head to the Black Spectrum Theatre to view its mini museum show of paintings and historic archives. Dwell music, refreshments, and t-shirts will probably be accessible for all registered attendees. Officers from the 113 precinct will information all riders by means of every leg of the tour.
All registrants will obtain a free t-shirt, and same-day registration may even be on-site.
Registration Charges: adults:- $ 25, minors (12-17): $10, Non-riders-$15
To register, click on the hyperlink right here or scan the QR code on the flyer.
