Queens - The Home of Jazz

Louis Armstrong House Block Party & Jazz Mobile

August 20, 2012 / Corona Neighborhood / Live Music in Queens / Queens Buzz. The Louis Armstrong House hosted a block party last week, including one of the current jazz greats, Arturo O'Farrill. Arturo's work has been nominated for several Grammy Awards and he won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2009 with the work entitled Song For Chico.

The album is dedicated to Arturo's father, Chico, who worked with many of the NYC jazz legends including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman, as well as Latin jazz great Machito. Both Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman lived in Queens, and are said to have jammed with Louis at the Armstrong House in Corona. Arturo is shown above playing at the Louis Armstrong House Block Party in the Corona neighborhood of Queens.

I also had the opportunity to speak with Robin Bell-Stevens, whose father played with Duke Ellington who was a friend of Louis'. Robin runs the Jazzmobile which was the sponsor of the event. Click here to view our report and photos of the Louis Armstrong House Block Party & Jazzmobile in Queens.

Queens World Film Festival

Queens Film Festival Begins

March 9, 2013 / Astoria, LIC & Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz. I attended the 3rd annual Queens World Film Festival opening Tuesday night at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. As I arrived, independent film producers, directors, writers, actors and actresses mingled in the lobby.

A local TV film crew was interviewing one of the festival participants as I started mingling with the crowd. I met one man who has film showing Friday, another with a film showing Thursday, and a Belgian couple who co-produced a thirty second short that was to be shown at the opener tonight [they’re shown conversing with City Councilmembers Dromm and Van Bramer].

It wasn’t long before the festivities began, which included several speeches by sponsors [some are listed at the end of this report] and the Queens World Film Festival founders, Don and Katha Cato of Jackson Heights.

Queens World Film Festival

Queens World Film Festival 2013

February 12, 2013 updated from February 29, 2012 / Jackson Heights / Film in Queens / Queens Buzz.  The 2013 Queens World Film Festival runs March 5th through March 10th 2013.  Check the March events calendar in the Things To Do section of this site [see top tool bar] - for films, viewing times and location - as the event approaches.

I visited the home of Don and Katha Cato this past weekend. Don and Katha are the duo that are organizing the second annual Queens World Film Festival, which opens Thursday night, March 1st at the Museum of the Moving Image – and then returns to its home in Jackson Heights for the remainder of the weekend.

I spent hours talking to Don mostly about the films, and talking to Katha about film as well as various aspects of planning and organizing the film festival [they are shown in the photo to the right]. The following report includes a general overview of the Queens World Film Festival logistics, as well as many previews of the films that will be shown. The festival includes about twenty films by Queens based film makers. And who knows, perhaps one day one of them will be receiving their Oscar from the Academy in Hollywood.

Click here to read our report about the Queens World Film Festival 2012.

What's Playing At 78th Playstreet?

Closed Street Quickly Becomes Intrinsic Part Of Park

August 5, 2011 / Jackson Heights Neighborhood / Queens Buzz. I went to check out Friday Night At The Movies, which spontaneously began the last week in July on 78th Playstreet next to Travers Park in Jackson Heights. Don and Katha Cato, organizers of the Queens World Film Festival, came up with the idea. And they implemented it with the help of a few friends, notably Elliott and Elena Madison of the Jackson Heights Green Alliance.

The weekly Friday Night At The Movies on 78th Playstreet will continue Friday, August 12th beginning at dusk [between 8 and 9 pm] at 78th Playstreet, which is adjacent to Travers Park and provides additional recreational space for families and kids living nearby in Jackson Heights.

Recycling Indie Films – New Green Initiative

The films being aired are from the first Queens World Film Festival. The films shown the night I attended included 38 minutes of shorts, and … Click here to read more about Friday Night At The Movies At 78th Playstreet.

How To Start A Cultural Movement

Where Art & Culture Meet Immigrant Movement

May 1, 2011 / Jackson Heights & Corona / Ethnic & Religious Culture / Queens Buzz. I was out covering one story when I caught wind of another. The other was the Immigrant Movement which is an art / social experiment going on this year in the Corona neighborhood of Queens.

I happened upon it in late April when I noticed a large crowd standing outside of the Immigrant Movement building in Corona Queens. The crowd had an artsy look - a look I have happened upon in Corona only occasionally ... so far.

It seems the Immigrant Movement is a three party collaboration, lead by performance artist / social activist Tania Bruguera of Cuba. The project is funded by the Queens Museum Of Art which periodically takes avante garde art initiatives, as well as by Creative Time which is a modern art organization in the metro NYC area. This creative approach to art and culture was provocative enough to capture my curiosity, so I stepped through the doorway to find out more.

Click here to read more about the Immigrant Movement in Corona Queens.

Queens World Film Festival

New Film Festival Debuts In Jackson Heights

March 2, 2011 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. This report includes all the info about the first Queens World Film Festival in Jackson Heights, including a link to their website.

Click here to read more about the Queens World Film Festival in Jackson Heights.

Julio Of Jackson Heights

Film Delves Into LGBT Parade

February 10, 2011 / Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. I just returned from a screening of an unfinished documentary film about the origins of the LGBT Parade in Jackson Heights. A Jackson Heights resident had tipped us off about the screening, because he was moved by the quality of the film documentary.

The documentary movie covers the brutal murder of Julio Rivera, and the subsequent social activism ignited by this young man’s death. The unfinished film has a lot of texture, including some history of the gay community and gay activism in the NYC metro area.

Click here to read more about the film Julio Of Jackson Heights.

Bulova Corporate Center

Queens Was Once On Bulova Time

The Bulova Watch Company & Building

Jackson Heights / Queens Buzz. We had occasion to visit the Bulova Corporate Center recently. The art deco Bulova Corporate Center building caught our interest because of its interesting architecture. And the history of the Bulova Watch Company, which has been a Queens mainstay since the 1950's, is as interesting as the building that was once home to an American icon.

Currently the building is occupied by the offices of a number of organizations including the Queens Chamber Of Commerce and American Airlines. The following piece is a history of the J. Bulova Watch Company and the building they once occupied: the Bulova Corporate Center. Click here to view our report on the Bulova Corporate Center in Jackson Heights. The photo at right was from one of the original murals of the Bulova Watch Company.