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The late Peter Jennings.[/caption]
By Tim Sommer
The late Peter Jennings, a legendary newscaster, was a man of grace, intelligence, and compassion.
His visible accomplishments were extraordinary: the youngest network anchor in American history (he was 26 when he first anchored ABC’s nightly national news), a moderator of Presidential debates, his extraordinary 17-straight hours behind the desk during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and much more. His work and dedication is so essential to the legacy of ABC News that the street in front of their Manhattan studios is officially named Peter Jennings Way.
Equally worthy of note was his lifelong desire to make positive change in the world. From Ontario, Canada to Long Island’s East End, Mr. Jennings consistently gave back to the communities he lived and worked in, and he inspired others to do the same.
In 1996, Mr. Jennings and his wife, television and documentary producer Kayce Freed Jennings, hosted an event at their house in Bridgehampton to support The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center, who had provided critical support services to needy families in the East End since 1954. The fundraiser became a tradition, and the Jennings’ annual gathering of internationally famous jazz musicians was a fundamental element sustaining the good and vital works of the BHCCRC.
But with Mr. Jennings’ untimely passing in 2005, the music stopped.
It resumes this year on the afternoon of June 28 at the Watermill Center, when Kayce Jennings and some of the most notable names in jazz join together not only to support the singular good work of the BHCCRC, but also to recall the philanthropic, music loving spirit of Peter Jennings.
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Delfeayo Marsalis.[/caption]
“It’s the 10th anniversary of Peter’s death,” says Kayce Jennings, “so it’s a good time to honor his commitment to his community, and most particularly in this case his commitment to the BCCRC, which needs our support and needs it rather desperately. It’s a wonderful local institution that’s doing great things, and many things, without very much. This is an opportunity to call attention to their existence and their needs.”
Bonnie Cannon, the Executive Director of the BHCCRC since 2007, underlines the importance of the event.
“It will help us continue to be in existence.”
Ms. Cannon hopes that Jazz For Jennings will allow the BHCCRC to make essential capital improvements, along with further developing programs like an SAT class, College Prep Programs, one-on-one counseling, and much-needed upgrades to the outdated playground. “We provide A safe haven for local community children,” says Ms. Cannon, “but we’ve expanded into a service institution for our community, providing childcare, afterschool programs, summer programs, we have a food pantry, we provide childcare, career counseling, we do a little bit of everything to help our local children. We want to build things that are going to help children so that when they grow up they will be able to participate and compete for scholarships and go away to college. We want them to go, and stay in college, and thrive, and then come back and contribute to our society and be good citizens. How do you have leaders? You have to develop them. It’s a big endeavor, but that’s what we are looking to do.”
In addition to the critical support Jazz For Jennings will supply to the BHCCRC, the event stands as a living memorial to a remarkable, giving man, whose love of music and community touched many people -- not the least the artists who took part in the Jazz For Jennings in the past, and are returning to the re-born event.
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John Faddis.[/caption]
One of these musicians is Jon Faddis, a well-respected trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator. “Being a part of Jazz For Jennings in 2015 is in some ways bittersweet,” he notes, “yet it’s also a brave and beautiful celebration of so much he and Kayce made and of Peter’s continuing legacy, and simply, of hope.
All agree that it is hugely appropriate that a way has been found to continue to honor Peter’s love of music and community.
“Peter lived the spirit of jazz,” Mr. Faddis adds, “In many ways, he embodied it. Listening to him, just seeing him be present with people, there was brilliant improvisation, a keen humor, clear integrity, a profound willingness to listen, and an authority that commanded respect and could cut though to the core and make itself. Peter loved jazz and the artists who create it; he was beloved by jazz musicians in turn. “
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Eric Reed.[/caption]
“He certainly loved jazz,” Mrs. Jennings says. “Even more, he loved the men and women who played it, he loved the jazz community, he loved the generosity of spirit he found there, and the sense of community he found there, and there was a natural engagement with the rest of the world that he found amongst jazz musicians. “
Other musicians performing at Jazz for Jennings will include some of the most respected names in the genre, including Delfeayo Marsalis, Christian McBride, Cameron Brown, Lewis Nash, Eric Reed, Cecil Bridgewater, and more. Honorary co-chairs of this one-of-a-kind event are Tom Brokaw, Charlie Gibson, Ted Koppel, Dan Rather and Diane Sawyer.
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Christian McBride[/caption]
When an extraordinary group of artists come together to honor a great man and support a great cause with continuing needs, you have the makings of a continuing event. Will that happen?
“I would love for there be an ongoing event…I would love for this to kick off a new tradition of some sort,” says Mrs. Jennings. “I hope that people see this as something worth continuing and that folks step up to the plate and help us do it. That would be a wonderful thing. It didn’t happen, unfortunately, in the last 10 years, since our last one, which is why it was so important for us to do it again. The Child Care Center really did lose a major source of funding when Jazz at Jennings ended, and that’s just not right.”
Jazz For Jennings takes place on Sunday, June 28 between 12 and 4:30 at the Watermill Center, 39 Water Mill Towd Road in Water Mill. For tickets and more information, go to jazz4jennings@bhccrc.org or call (631) 537-3188.
27east on Jun 24, 2015