Jazz Festival Rescheduled to Oct. 2

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That’s a wise saying but not so easy to remember when nature forces you to cancel an event you’ve worked nearly a year to produce.

That’s exactly what happened to former Trumbull resident Gene Leone, Sr., organizer of the 2011 Easton Jazz Festival. When Tropical Storm Irene blew through our area in August, the Festival had to be postponed, subject to the schedules of the local jazz greats slated to perform.

Luckily, it’s back on…and then some. The rescheduling of the event to this Sunday, Oct. 2, allowed Eliot Lewis, former guitarist with Hall and Oates and the Average White Band, to join the roster of talent.

The rescheduled Festival takes place on Sunday from 11:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Pond Field in Easton. Taking the stage will be Lewis, the What Up Funk Band, Tuffus Zimbabwe with Antoinette Montague, Howard Zinno, Chris Coogan and the Good News Gospel Choir, Dr. Joe Utterback and Maydie Miles, Howard Alden with Jeanette Geis, Paul Gabriel and many more.

Leone notes that "musicians are selected for their appeal and include a 'something for everyone' lineup in a wide range of genres -- jazz, blues, R&B, gospel and funk. Fairfield County has many, many incredible performing artists. The music organization my family has operated as a community service for the past eight years, The Jazz Guild of Fairfield County, which brings gifted young musicians to the stage on a weekly basis, performs all over Connecticut," he said. "Throughout the years, we've caught the interest of many professional musicians, and we've opened events before them. They now support what we do, and many of them are performing at this Festival."

Details and a complete listing of performers, as well as directions to Pond Field, can be found at the Festival website.