Editor’s note: This story is a part of the Raising Voices Lab, a CT Mirror initiative focused on local reporting and service journalism in Bridgeport and Hartford that aims to understand and meet the information needs of historically underserved communities.
On the final day of this year’s Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, just before the rain swept Bushnell Park, thousands of families lounged on the grass facing the main stage — the air thick with the scent of jerk chicken and the sound of Michelle Coltrane’s iconic vocals.
The Connecticut Capitol served as a backdrop, framed by tents, picnic tables, and rows of folding chairs. Some people nodded along quietly, holding their fresh squeezed lemonade. Others danced from side to side, making Sunday’s event feel like a neighborhood party featuring world class musicians.
“There’s people from different economic backgrounds, from different racial backgrounds, different religious backgrounds, all sitting together, enjoying the music, and that’s one of the beauties of something in a public space like Bushnell Park, where everybody’s just equals there,” said Chuck Obuchowski, WWUH jazz radio announcer and broadcaster of the festival for more than 30 years.
Last weekend, Bushnell Park welcomed almost 70,000 spectators to enjoy live music performed by local, national and international artists.
For more than three decades, the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz has offered not just a concert series to the city, but also an open egalitarian space: free, outdoors and welcoming to all.
The first festival, held in July 1992, was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Paul Brown’s Monday night jazz series, the longest running free jazz concert series in the United States. The series, which is still held each summer, runs until Aug. 11 this year.
A festival that feels like home
The festival has grown to be the largest free jazz event in New England, and a world-class event that Hartford residents can enjoy right in the green heart of the city.
Hartford resident Brendan Alexander, who lives in the city’s North End, has attended the festival since he was a child. Now at 18 years old, he sees it as a reflection of Hartford’s culture.
“To me, people and the culture in Hartford, is like the best thing that we have, because everybody connects and supports each other,” Alexander said.
Internationally recognized jazz vocalist and composer, Michelle Coltrane, 65, the stepdaughter of the famous jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, performed at the festival for the first time this year. Michelle Coltrane, accustomed to large venues like the Hollywood Bowl, loved Bushnell Park’s neighborly vibe and multigenerational audience.
“It’s important to have these outdoor venues that have a very broad mix of [music]… having the kids come and the older people like, ‘Yeah, I know that song from 50 years ago,’” Coltrane said.
Steven Thomas has been volunteering for three years at the festival. A blues artist, poet, bass guitar player and North End native, Thomas sees the festival as an equitable space for locals.
“Man, it’s really important. I mean, the rich guys, they got country clubs they could go to…with stuff like this we all get together,” said Thomas. “Hartford needs this.”
The people who make it happen
Thomas is one of many Hartford-based volunteer staff members that make the festival happen. Some, like Thomas, perform in local bands. For others, like security staff member Valerie Taylor, the event is a vehicle for belonging and memories.
Taylor’s mother, who used to be a jazz singer, took her for the first time to the festival when she was a middle school student living in Southwest Hartford. Now, at 69 years old, she enjoys the backstage chaos and the community that make this event happen.
“To see all the people and the families from when I grew up, a lot of them were out in the audience, and my high school buddies were here, it’s amazing.”
Alvin Carter, stage and festival production manager, Hartford native and band leader, believes jazz is still a force shaping the city’s social and cultural heartbeat.
“People have been saying jazz is dying for decades. It’s not dying. It’s just not as well funded as it used to be,” Carter said.
Music as a binder in hard times
The festival is powered by the steady commitment of local residents who see music as more than entertainment.
Maurice Robertson, Hartford Jazz Society board member, jazz photographer, and 49-year volunteer radio announcer at WWUH, looks at the jazz scene in Hartford as a continuum and events like the festival as the social glue for people.
“These are opportunities for people to have joy, to break bread with each other, and to be neighborly, the music inspires and unifies, rallies us,” Robertson said. “These are very difficult times, so these free concert opportunities help folks to transcend some of the negativity that is constant.”
Even as crowds filled the park, staff members walked across the audience with donation buckets. The festival is free to the public but not free to run, something Charles Christie, president of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, knows well.
Christie looks forward to getting a paid executive director position so next generations get motivated to keep the festival going.
Having organized events like the jazz festival and the Keney Park family day for almost 30 years, Christie has a passion for the city of Hartford, for music and bringing people together.
“The bottom line is here to benefit the community,” he said.
