Spring Concert At East Fourth Street Community Garden This Saturday

This weekend, welcome spring’s warmer temps with a free family concert at Kensington’s own East Fourth Street Community Garden, located between Caton Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway. The season-opening concert, starring local neighborhood musical celebs, will take place on Saturday, May 3, from 2-4pm, and will feature Balkan, jazz, Middle Eastern, and Sephardic content, plus a free children’s music program.

The afternoon’s lineup is:

2-2:40pm: Sofie Salonika, a hybrid Sephardic music ensemble will delight your ears with Gypsy-tinged, haunting melodies with a driving pulse that will get your feet stomping too! Members are Jessica Lurie on sax, flute, voice; Katie Down on flute, ukulele, voice, and percussion; Arthur Kell on bass.

2:40-3pm: Sing Along with Katie! Fun for the whole family — bring a ukulele to play along if you’ve got one! Katie Down performs songs by Woody Guthrie and Peter Seeger as well as classics like “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” and other hits. Audience participation is encouraged!

3-3:30pm: Kensington Kollective, a jazz ensemble, features Matt Darriau of The Klezmatics on sax and clarinet, Barney McAll of the Groove Collective on keys, and Sam Bardfeld of violin fame.

3:30-4pm: Brandon Terzic and Matt Darriau close the show with some Mideast jams, with Arabic oud master Brandon Terzic and Matt Darriau on ney, kaval, and other Middle Eastern winds.

The garden will be able to provide limited seating. Given the weather conditions over the next few days, the ground might be a little wet. Please feel free to bring along your own waterproof tarps and chairs for seating.

During the concert, there will be a raffle for a beautiful Waterford Crystal clock.