Erie's Jazz, Blues Walk features 10 bands, 10 venues

BY JOHN CHACONA, Erie Times-News 
Contributing writer

In a New York Times podcast, critics Nate Chinen and Ben Ratliff lauded the three jazz festivals that dominated New York City's June music scene.

Ratliff asked Chinen about the new Undead Jazzfest in the West Village.

"I love the idea of an overspill and the messiness of it," Chinen responded. "It fosters discovery, and it also creates that festive atmosphere that you don't necessarily get when you shuffle into the atrium at Carnegie Hall."

Well, Erie doesn't exactly have a Carnegie Hall, but for overspill and discovery, JazzErie's annual Jazz & Blues Walk got there first.

At 16, the walk is still young at heart.

In a nutshell, it's 10 bands at 10 venues for $10. That's the cost of the button that will get you into the walk's venues in downtown Erie (though Saturday it may feel more like the West Village). The button also is good for the shuttle service.

That's the goal for the organizers led this year by Liz Scarpelli and Mary Watson. Scarpelli, once a controller at E.E. Austin & Son construction, put it this way: "I love being retired. I have two passions: music -- mostly jazz -- and gardening."

So this is a labor of love, getting the venues and lining up bands. "The musicians get grabbed quick," Scarpelli said.

Complete: http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110707/ENTERTAINMENT0301/307069928