Published: August 27, 2008 08:59 am      

Summer Music Fest starts Friday

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon City Parks and Recreation Department is continuing its Family Adventure Series with its Summer Music Fest, slated for 6 p.m. Friday at Veterans Park. Randy Atkinson will be headlining Friday’s entertainment, with Polly Waddell and Fairfield native Dean Mounts.

Atkinson, who has been playing the trombone for 40 years, will be performing a number of jazz and easy listening pieces, such as “Back Home in Indiana,” “All of Me,” “Take the A Train,” “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Chicago” among others. He said jazz is a genre he’s always enjoyed listening to or playing, and he has been inspired by a number of musicians and singers, such as Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey and Duke Ellington.

“Jazz is the only original form of music, to my understanding, in the United States, starting around the New Orleans area. So it’s just an original form of [music] which probably reached its peak in the 1940’s. As time changed, it sorta tapered off, but it’s still around and people still play the older tunes,” Atkinson said. He added as the rhythm and music of jazz developed, singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald “added the commercial appeal.”

On Friday, Atkinson will be playing “all kinds of jazz” with CD backup and also be accompanied by Waddell and Mounts. “[Polly] is a violin/fiddle player. I met her recently in the past month. She’s a fantastic fiddler. We’re going to throw a little variety into the mix of what people will see,” he remarked.

Mounts, whom Atkinson plays with in the Independent Silver Band, is a trumpet player. “He spent 50 years in the music and recording industry in Detroit and has also written music for commercials,” Atkinson said of Mounts.

Both Waddell and Mount will also do a few musical numbers on their own.

Atkinson said he’s excited about the Summer Music Fest series, as it helps “open the door for many musicians” in the King City. “It would be nice to stimulate interest among the public about the lots of type of music here,” he noted.

“It was definitely one of our goals to get a wide variety of musicians to perform, so that it’s not just jazz or gospel but something to get everyone in the community involved,” said recreation coordinator Wes Plummer.

Friday’s Summer Music Fest is a free event, according to Plummer and is also part of the Family Adventure Series. The idea of the Family Adventure Series is to provide exciting inexpensive family oriented programs.

The concert will be held in the Band Shell at the park. In case of rain, the music fest will be held inside the Rolland Lewis Community Building.

For more information about the Summer Music Fest, you may contact Plummer at 242-6890.