Hot Summer Nights series in Old Town kicks off with jazz festival

By: NICOLE SACK - Staff Writer | Friday, July 13, 2007 10:03 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- The Hot Summer Nights series in Old Town was ushered in by cool jazz Friday night as music and people filled the usually sleepy streets of the downtown district.

"The idea is to get people into Old Town and to keep them coming back," said Tom Edwards, chairman of the Temecula Community Services Commission, which promotes events within the city. Hot Summer Nights offers entertainment in Old Town from 6 to 9 p.m. each Friday, through Aug. 31.

Old Town businesses and shops took advantage of the extra foot traffic, with most remaining open long past 6 p.m., when most typically close for the evening.

Raquel Collier, owner of Expressions gift shop on Main Street, said she would be keeping her doors open past 9. As she surveyed the other stores on the street, she said there was a noticeable increase in the number of businesses that were also reaching out to the crowds that meandered between the stages.

"We just need more people to come down here," Collier said. "People sometimes assume that there are only stores on (Old Town) Front Street, and they don't discover how many more shops are on the side streets. Having events like this sometimes opens their eyes."

The Friday series got a big kickoff. The Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival set the tempo as four stages along the span of Old Town Front Street came alive with the sounds of jazz.

"Jazz is truly American music," said Jon Laskin, festival organizer. "The world agrees jazz is important and we're seeing how it draws musicians from all over."

There are more than 200 musicians from around the world on hand for the jazzfest, Laskin said. The Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival, in its fourth year, was expanded from three to four nights this year. Laskin said the popularity of the event is beginning to show itself.

"We've more than doubled in participation and sponsors," he said.

The jazz festival continues today, beginning at 1 p.m., and will end Sunday night.

Alto saxophonist Richie Cole was center stage as the sun began to set Friday evening. Cole, who has been playing music for nearly five decades, has been a staple of Temecula Valley International Jazz Festival since its inception. He was living in Trenton, N.J., when a few years ago, "this guy, Jon Laskin, just called me up out of the blue and asked me to come out and play."

Cole said that Temecula now feels like his second home.

"Look at this place, it's like being back in time," Cole said as he looked out to the buildings on Old Town Front Street. "There are jazz people and non-jazz people in the world. Luckily, it seems like Temecula is a place that pulls in jazz people."

Mary Lucas of Oceanside has traveled to Temecula both Thursday and Friday night for the festival, and said she would be back today as well.

"This is amazing, authentic jazz," Lucas said. "It's the best music I've heard since I moved from San Francisco eight months ago. I'm so happy to have found this."

Contact staff writer Nicole Sack at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or nsack@californian.com.

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