Rockaway
JOURNAL Since 1883
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JULY 9- 15, 2026
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Free jazz fills Queens parks this summer Itai Kriss is a Grammy-nominated flutist and composer who fuses the sounds of his native Israel with Caribbean, Jazz, Middle Eastern, North African, and Timba influences with his group Televana. Experience music for free in Travers Park (near 34th Avenue and 77th Street) in Jackson Heights on Thursday, July 9, at 7 p.m. The event kicks of f the Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series, which presents free shows on the next Thursdays throughout the borough until Aug. 27. Inspired by the Queens Jazz Trail Map, the series highlights artists connected to Jazz traditions across the borough. All the concerts are free and outside, and they start at 7 p.m., unless the weather is bad. The concert series is presented by Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, Flushing Town Hall, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum in partnership with NYC Parks. The remaining schedule: July 16: Vincent Herring & Steve Turre celebrate the John Coltrane centennial with Hard Bop and Afro-Cuban influences in Baisley Pond Park, near 116th Avenue, 150th Street, and Supthin Boulevard in South Jamaica. July 23: A night with Grammy-winning Afro-Latin Jazz pianist and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill at the Forest Park Bandshell. July 30: John Yao & His 17-Piece Instr ument blend Swing, Funk, and Latin Jazz in Bowne Park, by 29th Avenue and 157th Street in Flushing. Aug. 6: Wycliffe Gordon, an acclaimed trombonist and educator rooted in Jazz tradition perfor ms in the Rockaway Beach Amphitheater around Beach 60th Street. Aug. 13: Trumpeter Wallace
Courtesy Queens Tourism Council
Across Queens this summer there are an array of music shows highlighting diverse musical genres. Above, a show on Rockaway Beach. Roney Jr. plays music honoring the Miles Davis le g acy in Archie Spigner Park, by 169th Street, Merrick Boulevard, and Sayres Avenue in St. Albans. Aug. 20: Female-led Brass Queens blends New Orleans and New York Brass styles in Cunningham Park, near Horace Harding Expressway and Grand Central Parkway in Fresh Meadows. Aug. 27: Jazz vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan mixes her Armenian heritage with straightahead Jazz in Astoria Park, by 19th Street, Astoria Park South, and Ditmars Boulevard.
Live at the Gantries
Live at the Gantries, the annual summer concert series presented weekly outside with diverse musicians at Gantry
Plaza State Park in Long Island City is under way. All shows are free and all start at 7 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket. Dine at the food trucks along Center Boulevard. Get your dancing shoes on. Make sure to appreciate East River and Midtown Manhattan vistas behind the gantry. Here’s the rest of the lineup. July 14: Ivan Llanes This Cuban-American percussionist, vocalist, and composer blends Afro-Cuban traditions with jazz, Brazilian rhythms, soul, and contemporary influences. July 21: Insun Park & Generals This group fuses traditional Korean music and mask dance rhythms with contemporary rock-n-roll to create a bold,
high-energy sound. July 28: La Cumbiamba eNeyé La Cumbiamba eNeYé is the first Gaita music ensemble in the United States. Gaita is a Colombian genre based on African and Indigenous rhythms. The infectious sound always moves people to dance. Aug. 4: Bartlett Contemporaries This Queens-based band favors an uptown funk fusion of bebop, funk and hip-hop. Aug. 11: Stephane Wrembel
This guitar master plays jazz, gypsy swing and global musical traditions. The Kupferberg Center for the Arts presents Live at the Gantries with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the MathisPfohl Foundation, the Max and S e l m a Ku p f e r b e r g Fa m i ly Foundation, and the Howard Gilman Foundation. — Jeffrey Bessen