Chicken Bone Beach, Dizzy’s, Great Jazz on the Great Hill

ist Regina Carter, who’s played everything from a classical concert in Genoa, using a violin made in 1743 by Niccolò Paganini, to the sound of her hometown Detroit, Also on the bill will be the Mary Cross Quartet. Cross, a native of New Jersey, is a renowned R&B singer, who will bring a soulful aspect to the evening.

For a comprehensive cultural history of CBB, these two books are essential: “Chicken Bone Beach (Images Of America)” by Ronald J. Stephens and Henrietta Shelton (Arcadia Publishing SC, 2017), and “Chicken Bone Beach: A Pictorial History of Atlantic City’s Missouri Avenue Beach” by Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks (Sunbury Press. 2017). Some of the iconic figures mentioned above are pictured in this latter book.

The festival is presented by the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation, Inc. For more information, visit chickenbonebeach.org or call 609-841-6897.

On Aug. 10-12, Dizzy’s jazz club will celebrate “Mulgrew Miller: Wingspan Reunion.” The bandmates of legendary pianist and composer Miller will observe what would have been his 67th birthday weekend, for their first reunion since his untimely transition in 2013.

Just lounging on the couch, still sleepy on a recent Sunday morning contemplating a piece for my column, and as I hit my WBGO app, a familiar voice was heard in the middle of an announcement referencing the Chicken Bone Beach Jazz Festival. Wait, what did she say? Chicken Bone Beach?! Suddenly, my “derogatory negro” antennae shot to the sky: What the hell, Chicken Bone Beach?? I immediately took to Google and YES, there it was: a Chicken Bone Beach in Atlantic City, the racially segregated beach during the 1920s through 1960s, which was established as Missouri Avenue Beach. It became one of the most famous beaches in Atlantic City, attracting Black celebrities, entertainers, civic leaders and athletes (from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sammy Davis, Jr. to Joe Louis). The Northside of Atlantic City was also known for its famous Club Harlem on Kentucky Avenue.

It seems the then-derogatory “Chicken Bone Beach” was called such in an unattributed statement which, some assume came from the white maintenance workers who cleaned the beach and in their bigoted humor began the rumor, probably saying, “man, you know every time we go to clean that negro beach we find thousands of chicken bones in the sand,” and thus Chicken Bone Beach—and it STUCK! But that moniker is no more outrageous than “The Inkwell,” the popular Black beach in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard (also founded in the early 1900s), that was negatively tagged thus by local whites relating to the beach-goers’ dark complexions.

Despite the pejorative beach brandings by whites, both Black communities (Oak Bluffs and Atlantic City) turned the nicknames into cultural attractions of pride, respect, and reflection. “The Inkwell” and Chicken Bone Beach remain two of the most enduring historical beaches in America.

Now that Chicken Bone Beach (CBB) is no longer a mystery to me, let’s get on to this 23rd Annual CBB Jazz on the Beach free concert series, held every Thursday now through Sept. 7, at Kennedy Plaza between Mississippi & Georgia Avenues on the Boardwalk (7 p.m. -10 p.m.). The line-up casts a wide net that should catch those territorial New Yorkers who refuse to leave the city for any reason. The roster boasts influential headliners, as well as an exciting roster of local jazz musicians, who will perform 7 p.m. -8 p.m. There is no concert scheduled for Aug. 10.

On Aug. 17, Amina Figarove Sextet and Tribute to Charles Fambrough featuring pianist Aaron Graves and saxophonist Joe Ford will perform. The pianist, composer, and producer Figarove has been performing with her acclaimed sextet since 2005, over the years rotative musicians have included trumpeter Alex Pope Norris and saxophonist Wayne Escoffery.

On Aug. 24, the soft-spoken pianist Cyrus Chestnut, who drops classical notes in gospel-moving jazz phrases, will appear with the local Dwain Davis Quartet. On Aug. 31, trumpeter Etienne Charles, the creative jazz musician who infuses his native roots of Trinidad in his music, appears on the bill with Yocontalle Quartet; and the finale on Sept. 7 presents violin-

This celebratory occasion will be a reincarnation of Wingspan, one of Miller’s final bands, featuring vibraphonist Steve Nelson, trumpeter Duane Eubanks, and alto saxophonist Steve Wilson with guests; pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Nat Reeves and drummer Carl Allen. The artists will bring a fresh interpretation to the 2002 Wingspan album, “The Sequel.” Nelson said, “It is with great joy that I anticipate this reunion.”

For more information and reservations, visit 2023jazz.org.

Great Jazz on The Great Hill is one of Manhattan’s most welcomed free events on Central Park’s Great Hill at 106th Street and Central Park West, the annual event presented by Jazzmobile and the Central Park Conservancy commences Aug. 12 from 4 p.m. -7 p.m.

This year’s established guests will include trumpeter and composer Jeremy Pelt (author of Guru: Examining the Lives of Jazz’s Great Storytellers, Vols. 1 & 2), trombonist Wycliffe Gordon (the Jazz Journalists Association named him Trombonist of the Year a record-breaking 15 times), percussionist Bobby Sanabria’s Multiverse Big Band (award-winning musician, composer, arranger, conductor, and producer), and the afternoon’s Emcee, vocalist Lezlie Harrison, the jazz voice of New York and beyond heard on jazz radio WBGO-FM.