Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

For 26 years, jazz lovers have flocked to the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival in July to listen to great music played outdoors on balmy summer nights. Pictures show a packed amphitheater just outside the Wonderland of the Americas Mall, with people lounging on chairs and blankets around a shallow pool of water, facing the make-shift stage on the other side.

But not this year! The pandemic has changed the way we gather, or more precisely, do not gather, inducing the Balcones Heights city leaders to reexamine their options. In fact, they were already considering possible changes and tweaks before COVID-19 reared its ugly head.

“After 25 years, it was a good time to look at it, and maybe make some changes to freshen up the festival and attract new audiences,” said Lorenzo Nastasi, the city’s director of economic development and public affairs. “Organizations that don’t do that are taking a risk. So, to diversify, we originally planned to do a Christmas concert which would have been a first. And then the pandemic hit.”

He and colleagues eventually opted to do a smaller holiday concert, focusing on local headliners, “and put it online so that people could enjoy it.” Die-hard jazz fans would get something new and the virtual concert could potentially attract new jazz lovers.

The free virtual show, that was pre-recorded Dec.15 at the Wonderland Mall, will open with a song set featuring San Antonio’s First Lady of Soul, MiChelle Garibay-Carey and her PM Soul band, which includes her husband Pat Carey, drummer Godfrey Smith, keyboardist David Lopez and saxophonist Carl Spann. Classic songs, Christmas carols and numbers from Garibay-Carey’s recent album “Love Dance” are all part of the program. The second part of the show will feature another big name in San Antonio and Texas music, Toro Flores and his favorite Zarabande band. The virtual 2-hour performance will debut Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. on the City of Balcones Heights YouTube channel.

The Christmas concert is part of the transformation of the Balcones Heights Jazz Festival into a four-concert season that is expected to end in the summer with two traditional outdoor events. All concerts are free.

Nastasi indicated that going forward, the concerts may include other genres of music and the name may be changed as well to reflect the new reality. “At this time, we figured one change was enough,” he explained. “Let’s not change everything and throw the baby out with the bath water.”

A jazz aficionado, Nastasi is the man choosing the bands in collaboration with David Munoz of iHeart Media, host of Smooth Jazz San Antonio.

“David has an incredible network of connections, a huge knowledge and appreciation of jazz,” said Nastasi. “He loves it, he eats, breathes and dreams jazz. So, I would tell him what we are interested in, like women jazz artists, for example, whom we featured last year. Then he comes to me with recommendations. We discuss it and make our choices.”

As the representative of Balcones Heights, Nastasi was present during the recording session at the mall. There was no audience, of course, unless one counts the camera men and other tech guys, and a few mall visitors, watching from a distance.

“Any kind of performance losses something when you don’t have that audience dynamic working,” he noted. “However, I thought that the recording session went very well considering the space we were in and the lighting and sound challenges. Still, it was very enjoyable.”

After the show premieres on the 22^nd it will continue to be available for viewing “for the foreseeable future.” The idea is to bring some joy and fun to people.

“There’s a wonderful song that originated in the musical ‘Mame’ called ‘We need a little Christmas,’ said Nastasi. “Sometimes in the dark winters, even without COVID, having a little Christmas music to tap to while you are on your laptop or iPad, could be a nice thing to be able to do. The concert will be up there to provide that opportunity to people.”