A summer concert series is once again bringing music…and health care service providers to six Syracuse neighborhoods. Jazz in the City is marking 20 seasons of public outreach.
The rhythmic beat of the Blacklites echoed though the lobby of the Syracuse Community Health Center at Wednesday's announcement.
They are one of the bands welcoming numerous health and human service agencies in a continuing partnership with CNY Jazz. Executive Director Larry Luttinger says Jazz in the City serves as an interface between the providers and residents they serve.
“There are many agencies from very large to very small that all need a platform to provide awareness and education of their services, and there's a gigantic gap between those agencies and their ability to get their information out to the people who need it most," Luttinger said.
Among those are patients of Syracuse Community Health Center, the venue for this year’s July 11th concert. Chief Operating Officer Jessica Yoxall says while providing COVID vaccines were a previous priority, it’s now time to get back to basic healthcare.
“We are very excited to be able to continue to provide and connect patients with the resources for primary and preventative healthcare services, inclusive of behavioral health and dental,” Yoxall said.
To showcase that, the annual concerts boast a variety of jazz, funk, soul, and R&B acts. For example, Jazz in the City Producer Steve Becker says they’ll be taking over the street near Skiddy Park on the near West Side June 20th.
"We're going to have this group reflecting that neighborhood, the Latin neighborhood with Alex Torres that's coming in from Albany, which is great," Becker said. "So we try to really reflect the neighborhoods we're in.”
Jazz in the city kicks off in two weeks June 13th with Atlas at Leavenworth Park just west of downtown.
EDITORS NOTE: WAER is a media sponsor of Jazz in the City.
