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Jazz fest energizes Youngstown's Central Square
YOUNGSTOWN
Several hundred enthusiastic jazz/music/downtown fans and the sun created an excited buzz to greet performers at the start of the Youngstown Jazz Festival, featuring jazz greats, saxophonist-flautist Najee and pianist Alex Bugnon.
The music, along with the people, filled Central Square downtown at 5 p.m. Saturday to hear support acts Hubb’s Groove & Michael Austin, Howard and The Point 5 Band, and The Karla Seldon Review.
The multiple Grammy Award-winning headliners, Najee and Gugnon, were scheduled to take the stage at 7:30 p.m.
Michael Avey, proprietor of the Joe Maxx Coffee Co., said the great crowd was good for his store and good for downtown.
One member of the crowd, Bernard Jones of Youngstown, said he has been collecting the works of Najee and Gugnon for about 15 years, but the Youngstown Jazz Festival was his first opportunity to see them in person, and for a great price of $10. It was also his first time at a downtown event.
Howard and the Point 5 Band, a local group, “came out of their mama’s womb playing,” said Barbara Heath, as she swayed her hips to the music.
“You normally have to go to Pittsburgh or Cleveland to get jazz like this,” she said.
Christine Silvestri of Youngstown’s South Side, enjoying the event with a few friends, all members of St. Patrick Church, said they like anything downtown, but they especially came to hear Howard Howell, head of the Point 5 Band, who plays occasionally at the church.
Todd Leskovec of Girard and Casey Mirkin of Liberty, standing close to the stage and amplifiers, said they like the downtown events and “love any loud music anytime.”