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When the late journalist Peter Jennings and his wife, Kayce Freed Jennings, heard about the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center back in the 1990s, the couple knew they wanted to do something to help.
The Bridgehampton residents heard about the organization, which serves lower-income African-American, Latino and Native American families in the Bridgehampton area, from one of Mr. Jennings’s close friends, and they immediately got involved.
“It was in our community, and that was something that was very important to us,” Ms. Freed Jennings said of the center. “It provided an important sanctuary and haven to a part of our community that is often overlooked.”
Looking for creative ways to garner support for the organization, the couple began an annual benefit for the center at their home in the summer of 1996, featuring live jazz performances by musicians from around the country, appropriately named Jazz at Jennings.
“It was kind of an accident,” Ms. Freed Jennings said of the benefit. “We were talking about how we can support the center and came up with a jazz event. Peter loved the jazz musicians.”
The last Jazz at Jennings took place in 2004, a year before Mr. Jennings died of lung cancer.
Ten years after Mr. Jennings’s passing, in 2015, Ms. Freed Jennings and the center wanted to highlight his selfless spirit and honor his commitment and unwavering support of the center and all it brings to the community. In tune with bringing back the tradition that Mr. Jennings had established years ago, the center reincarnated Jazz at Jennings, now named Jazz for Jennings, which will be held this year on Sunday, June 24, at the Watermill Center.
Ms. Freed Jennings admitted that she wasn’t sure if the event could continue after her husband’s death, but she always knew in the back of her mind that he would have wanted the center to continue the tradition.
“There had been a lot of talk through the years about trying to do something again, but it was just too big for me,” Ms. Freed Jennings recalled. “I knew we couldn’t recreate that intimate feeling we had with Peter in our home, so instead we reimagined it.”
This year’s jazz benefit will feature a returning favorite, drummer Evan Sherman, who now also serves as the Jazz for Jennings artistic director.
“Last year people were raving about him,” Ms. Freed Jennings said. “He had a whole unique energy about him and it was just wonderful.”
Playing alongside Mr. Sherman is Patrick Bartley Jr., alto sax and clarinet; Joy Brown, vocals; Frank Lacy, trumpet, trombone and vocals; Russell Hall, bass; Joel Wenhardt, piano; and James Zollar, trumpet.
Since bringing back the event three years ago, the center has seen more support than ever before, and Ms. Freed Jennings noted that her husband would be proud to see how far the center has come.
“It’s energizing and it’s grounding,” she said. “Every year it’s so gratifying seeing more and more members of the community come out to support the center. Peter would be so thrilled.”
Jazz for Jennings will take place at the Watermill Center in Water Mill on Sunday, June 24, at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $500. For more information, call 917-741-6257 or visit bhccrc.org/2018-jazz-for-jennings.
on Jun 15, 2018