Red Hook Jazz Festival Starts Sunday!

When Mike Golub first set foot in the Urban Meadow on President and Van Brunt streets, he knew.

"A Jazz Festival!" he exclaimed to his wife, Tamar Smith.

The Meadow was just that back then, an empty and unused plot of land. This was , before the clean-up and before it became a community garden. Golub, a drummer and sometime guitarist, had wanted to do a jazz fest, and this was his chance.

Now in it's fourth year, the Red Hook Jazz Festival is a 2-day family event, meant to bring people together to appreciate great music. It starts this Sunday and continues Saturday, June 18. Both days feature music from 1 - 6 p.m.

"I really want to raise awareness of the greatest American invention, which is Jazz," said Golub. "Kids [should] know about it!" 

The fest is for music and jazz fans, but is also a community-building event. Families wanting to get out into the sun and be with other families and neighbors in a natural environment are more than welcome. And kids get in for free!

"People always like seeing music outdoors," said Golub. "It's relaxing, and the kids can run around."

Over the years, the festival has grown beyond Golub's "wildest imagination."

"I'm completely blown away," he said.

This year, the fest features big names like Marco Capelli, Stephane Wrembel and Jeff Newell. The entire line-up can be found here.

Golub said the fest started with more avant-garde music, but is now a mix of different styles of jazz, to appeal to a wider audience.

It just makes sense to do a jazz fest, said Golub.

"A whole renaissance of jazz is going on in Brooklyn," he said. "A lot of places people used to play at in Manhattan are closed, and the musicians are coming here."

In case of rain, the music will move to on Columbia Street.

And for all the devoted music fans out there wondering, "How's the sound?", Golub says despite being outside, the sound in the meadow is "amazing."

For Golub, the festival is an opportunity to educate kids about jazz.

"We [should] raise the next generation of jazz musicians and jazz fans," he said. "Who knows, the next John Coltrane or Miles Davis may be out there in the audience."

The Red Hook Jazz Festival is sponsored by , Woofs 'n Whiskers, House of Pizza and Calzone and Red Hook Waterfront: The O'Connell Organization.