Music: An Island of Jazz

The roar of auto traffic came down from New York's Triborough Bridge; airliners thundered overhead on the way out of La Guardia Airport; the loudspeakers squealed and squawked. But at Randall's Island, the East River playground used mostly for track meets and soccer matches, the disturbances did not seem to matter. In three days, 60,000 fans packed the stadium for the fourth annual Randall's Island Jazz Festival, and made it the world's biggest jam session, displacing even the famed Newport Festival. The jazz buffs had come (at up to $4.50 a ticket) to hear just about every top combo, including an...

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