On August 9th the city of Peekskill threw its second annual Jazz and Blues festival that featured many different area performers and musical groups and attracted an audience of several thousand listeners.
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Left: John Mattis from the Town of Cortlandt presenting Proclamation to Carmen Leggio |
Honored at the end of the evening was Tarrytown musician Carmen Leggio who, while still active today at several local restaurants, i.e, the Red Hat in Irvington, and the Division Street Grill in Peekskill, was even more active over 50 years ago with many of the nation’s biggest name bands. Carmen was the featured tenor saxophone in Benny Goodman’s band, Woody Herman’s Gene Krupa’s, Maynard Ferguson’s and Buddy Rich’s bands among other well known names.
Carmen played in the 1940s with the Tarrytown High School Band and went from there to the U.S. Air Force band in Washington D.C., and from there to jazz with a variety of big bands. He was honored with a plaque from NY State Senator Charles Schumer, a plaque and a speech by NY State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, and a plaque and remarks by the mayor of Peekskill, Mary Foster. The evening was put together by John Payne with an assist from Janet Barry of Coldwell Banker in Croton.
