Nothing is better than sitting under blue Kansas sky while listening to one of America's best musical artforms played by skilled jazz musicians.
Jazz is all-American.
The improvisational nature of the music is a reflection of our democracy as we reinvent ourselves moment to moment. The crowd at the sixth annual Coleman Hawkins Neighborhood Festival was reflected in the sunglasses of Henry Franklin, of Perris, Calif., as Franklin played bass with jazz cellist Akua Dixon on Saturday afternoon in downtown Topeka. The festival's namesake, Coleman Hawkins, one of the world's most famous saxophonists, spent part of his youth in Topeka. The festival continues today. Nothing is better than sitting under blue Kansas sky while listening to one of America's best musical artforms played by skilled jazz musicians.