Jazz Musicians to "Play" Up Norton's Mall Revitalization Bill (10/10/07)

Washington, DC- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), will hold a news conference with jazz musicians well-known on the local and national jazz scene on Thursday, October 11 at 10:30 AM next to the carousel on the National Mall (900 Jefferson Drive, SW) to announce a bill to officially expand the boundaries of the Mall and to make it come alive with music, poetry, and other cultural attractions, as well as sites with tables to eat brown bag lunches or purchase tasty meals. Beginning at 10:15 AM, saxophonists Davey Yarborough, chair of Instrumental Music at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, and Will Smith, Assistant Professor and Jazz Ensemble Director at American University, and other musicians will perform during the news conference as an example of the music and culture that Norton wants to have drawn to the Mall. Charles Fishman, Executive Director of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival that recently brought national and local talent to the Mall and other D.C. sites for the third year, will speak about the Mall as a venue for the kind of entertainment Norton is seeking. Also on hand will be Drummer and Composer Nasar Abadey, and Thad Wilson, founder of the Thad Wilson Jazz Orchestra.

"The goal of my bill," Norton said, "is to expand and enhance the Mall by transforming a naked green space into an inviting park where residents and visitors can sit around small tables, find enjoyable food available or bring a brown bag lunch or simply enjoy cultural activities from string quartets and poetry readings on the greater space that will be available for fun and games."

In addition to announcing expanding boundaries for the Mall, the bill will require the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan to enhance cultural and other visitor-oriented activities on the stretch of property whose buildings are a centerpiece of tourism in the nation's capital. Norton has long lamented the lack of places to rest in the shade, cafés, music and other cultural offerings on the Mall. "We want visitors not only to visit the cultural sites that border the Mall, but also to find the Mall itself to be a pleasant venue to sit, enjoy a drink and listen to entertainment from local and national artists," Norton said. "With this bill, we can make the expanded Mall a place where things happen and people frequent whether they are tourists who are visiting our memorials or residents from the city and region who work downtown."