Jazz jam May 16 in Medina

It's all done for the love of the music. And for the eighth year in a row, the GO Jazz Festival will be jamming at Medina's Apple Orchard Inn.

Organizers Bob Golden and Joe Gehl have been involved in the project since its inception. Golden said the festival is unique for the area and last year's festival drew more than 300 people - locally and from both Rochester and Buffalo - to hear the jazz stylings of top performers. "Before the advent of this festival, Orleans County had never been introduced to world-class jazz musicians in their own backyard, so to speak," Gehl said.

This year's event features Tom Schumann, pianist for Spyro Gyra, who will be reunited with saxophonist Terrance Bruce. "This is only the third time in 13 years that these guys have played together," Golden said.

Joining them will be multi-instrumentalist Don Washington, trumpet and sax player Quinn Lawrence, the Kendall High School Jazz Ensemble and numerous jazz pianists. "We decided to provide an opportunity for youth groups and local musicians to display their talents and regional musicians, who'd achieved national and even international prominence, to demonstrate their skills in our area, with the hopes of encouraging a greater interest in this art form," Golden said.

Proceeds from the jazz fest benefit the Albion-Orleans Visitors Center, which provides support to families and friends of correctional center residents. "We set up waiting areas for those who visit the inmates," Golden said. "We have a play area for the children and the local churches donate food for the visitors."

Golden explained that in the spring of 1997, the Albion-Orleans Visitors' Center Board considered sponsoring some event for the benefit of the community, as well as raising modest funds for the Center's charitable works. The Center provides shelter, snacks, bathroom facilities and children's activities to the some nearly 40,000, mainly women and children, who visit inmates in the Albion and Orleans Correctional Facilities throughout any one year. The Center was founded by a concerned corrections official, aided by local churches and endorsed by NYS as aiding them in the processing visitors and enhancing the safety of prisons and eventually the community. It's a private not-for-profit agency, funded 50 percent by local community contributions.

The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 16 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Apple Orchard Inn, (formerly the Apple Grove Inn) on West Center Street in Medina. Admission is $20 for adults and $7 for children 17 and younger. For information contact Golden at 682-4821 or the website at www.geocities.com/GOjazzfestival.com.

For anyone who's never listened to jazz music, Gehl and Golden both said that jazz is America's only true art form. "That is, it began here, in America, and we should support American culture - especially in these times of stress," Gehl said. "The music is original - not rote, or copied - it offers the artist a freedom of expression which most other styles hinder. Then there's just the music itself - you can feel the excitement, the togetherness of the musicians, the freedom of expression sent out."

Over the last seven years, the GO Festival, held at the historic Apple Grove (now Orchard) Inn in Medina, on the third Sunday in May, has showcased Dave Brubeck's Bobby Militello, Cabo Frio's Terrance Bruce, Sammy Davis Jr.'s Bobby Jones, Spyro Gyra's Tom Schumann, "Papa John" DeFrancesco, David "Fathead" Newman and a Downbeat poll winner, Dr. Lonnie Smith.

"The music up to this point has been wonderful," Golden said. "Not only are the musicians highly skilled but their performances are so emotional. It's electric to watch them."