A lovely evening for Jazz in the Park

With the torrential downpour that soaked Milwaukee on Wednesday night, my high hopes for a warm (and dry) night at Jazz in the Park were nearly dashed.

Thankfully, the skies were clear — the bluest I’ve seen yet– and the weather mild as hundreds began flocking to Cathedral Square Park last night, despite massive construction and the dreaded “no carry-in” policy. After realizing that carry-in alcohol was not exactly legal and did nothing to bring money into the free festival, the folks at Jazz in the Park decided to enforce the policy. Surprisingly, it seems to be going well (of course, I still spotted a few six packs around the crowd, but for the most part people were in compliance with the new rules). Vendors sold bottles of house wine for a modest (but not that modest) price, while other tents offered giant bags of homemade kettle corn, mojitos, margaritas and even chair massages.

And the music? Well, it was pretty good. Not amazing — I think everyone was waiting for them to break into their repertoire of deconstructed cover songs — plus, all the chatter and street noise sort of drowned them out. Still, it was a lovely night and a great start to the series.

TCD’s newest photo intern Jennifer Bartel was there capturing images from the event. Enjoy!