With the daily hustle and bustle that we have to deal with as we move about life, it’s easy to forget about how much history and culture lives in Buffalo. From being a major part of the expansion of America to its outsized role in American music, Buffalo has lots of reason to be talking proud.
One of those reminders happened over the last two weekends as thousands of people from far and wide descended upon the historic Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in Buffalo for the 37th edition of the Pine Grill Jazz Reunion. The two-day music event is more of a family reunion than it is a music festival, but don’t take that to mean it’s not one of the best music festivals in the Empire State.
With a history that dates back decades in Western New York, the Pine Grill Jazz Reunion is a music festival that pays homage to the original Pine Grill and Buffalo’s heyday as a jazz destination, with some of the biggest names in jazz, blues, and R&B making their way to the Queens City. The Pine Grill itself, which sat at 1447 Jefferson, was often filled with sounds that would make your heart melt. From BB King and The Hackney Brothers to The Isley Brothers, The Dells, and The Temptations, there was no better place to be than inside the Pine Grill on a Friday or Saturday night…