By Krystle J. Bailey
Dozens gathered on North Indiana Avenue in Atlantic City this weekend for the grand opening of the Chicken Bone Beach Youth Jazz Institute. The brightly colored house, located near the corner of Grant and Indiana in the 3rd Ward, will serve as a permanent home for the long-standing, annual Youth Jazz Summer Camp presented by CBB.
Since 1997, the Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation has been dedicated to preserving the rich history of jazz in Atlantic City. CBB founder, Henrietta Wallace Shelton, recalls years of fond memories growing up in Atlantic City in the 1950s and ‘60s. During the time of segregation, Black beachgoers were limited to the Missouri Avenue section of the beach, which came to be known as “Chicken Bone Beach.” The beach became such a high-energy, popular place to spend the summer that it attracted the likes of celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, and Martin Luther King Jr.
When Henrietta Shelton moved back to Atlantic City in 1974 after spending years living the transient lifestyle of a military wife, she was disappointed to see how much the city she loved had changed. She, along with friends she had grown up with, longed for the block-party energy of Chicken Bone Beach that lit up their childhood. As a way to honor the summers of her upbringing, she and her brother Gene began making Chicken Bone Beach t-shirts to pay respect to the beach that raised them.
In the following years, Henrietta began looking for ways to bring the rich culture of jazz back to Atlantic City. In 1997, Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation was formed, followed by becoming an official 501c3 in 2000. For over 20 years, CBBHF has been bringing the best in jazz to the heart of Atlantic City from beach concerts and Thursday evenings in the summer at Kennedy Plaza to the yearly youth jazz institute.
The local youth has been at the heart of CBB since its inception. For the last 17 years, Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation has been conducting annual, tuition-free Youth Summer Jazz Camps for Atlantic City children. Each summer, their summer intensive culminates in a live jazz performance that showcases what they’ve learned. Until this year, the summer jazz camp has been housed in different locations including the last four years at Stockton’s Carnegie Center.
In 2016, CBBHF was given a beautiful gift in the form of a house on Indiana Avenue in Atlantic City. Ms. Henrietta Shelton knew right away that they would put the property to good use in the form of a youth jazz institute that would house the annual summer camp, along with year-round music lessons.
After a long journey and a great deal of fundraising, the house has been fully renovated and finally opened its doors to local youth on Friday, July 23rd. The open house featured live jazz, free food, and community members gathered together to celebrate the opening of the CBB Youth Jazz Institute. Attendees ate, danced, and laughed on a hot Friday afternoon as they talked about Atlantic City jazz of the past, present, and future.
Inside the jazz institute, guests were taken on tours as they learned about all of the services being offered on-site. The walls are graced with pictures of musical greats and iconic pictures from the glory days of Chicken Bone Beach.
As members of the youth institute, students have the opportunity to take free online or in-person music classes. With instructors for a variety of instruments, students can choose to learn how to play the guitar, drums, violin, keyboard, or any other instrument their heart desires. If a child wants to play it, the board at CBB is dedicated to finding a teacher to teach it. Inside the full-service studio, musicians have the opportunity to learn how to make beats and record their music directly onto editing software.
Board member Derek Longcrier was born and raised in Atlantic City. As a member of the CBBHF board and an active member of the community, he shares his excitement for the neighborhood “togetherness” that the institute offers.
As the band played and food was enjoyed, Longcrier talked about his childhood in Atlantic City when every neighbor knew one another, kids played together all day, and people looked after each other. Derek expressed hope in the future for Atlantic City in that regard: “This is a community deal. It gets us out of our houses and talking to one another. We get to know our neighbors and talk about things going on in the neighborhood. Separation is what messes us up. When we collaborate for the community, that’s when we have our power.”
Derek, along with the rest of the 13 member board, volunteers, and community members caught the CBB vision that Ms. Henrietta Shelton had nearly 30 years ago. As the day of the open house came to an end, Ms. Shelton settled into a hand-painted chair on the patio and emotionally expressed deep gratitude to every person who believed in the vision and helped bring the Chicken Bone Beach Youth Jazz Institute to life. This is the beginning of a new chapter in an ever-evolving story of music in Atlantic City. The members at Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation are leading the charge and look forward to a vibrant, artistic, collaborative future for Atlantic City.
For more information, visit www.ChickenBoneBeach.org or visit @ChickenBoneBeachAC on Social Media.
Krystle J Bailey. Multimedia journalist, Author, Poet.
Connect with Krystle on Instagram @thedailybailey5
