A Hartford Eulipion: Maurice D. Robertson Is a True Jazz Hero
Photography, radio, jazz society programming are all part of his support for the music
Maurice D. Robertson with some of his jazz images (credit Open Studio Hartford, Maurice D. Robertson)
Maurice D. Robertson has been an integral part of the Hartford jazz community for nearly 50 years.
He’s a ubiquitous presence with his camera at events large and small, and he regularly updates his Facebook page with links to jazz events throughout New England.
He’s programming chair of the Hartford Jazz Society.
He’s hosted a weekly show on WWUH-FM for 48 years.
He was named a Jazz Hero in 2018 by the Jazz Journalists Association. The annual awards honor those who go way above and beyond to promote jazz in their local communities (he was inducted the same year as Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis, to give you an idea of the prestige of the award).
Yet he also took the time recently to share his insights with 8495Jazz, a brand new one-man Substack. Why would he do that?
“That’s why I’m a Jazz Hero,” Maurice told 8495Jazz. “Because I don’t have a big head. I deal with the community. I’m what I call a useful citizen. I show up, I don’t care what the situation is, if it’s positive to the scene I show up and roll my sleeves up.”
Maurice, who now lives in Bloomfield, Conn., grew up in Hartford and played the flute in local groups like PAL bands and fife and drum corps. He also played in what he called an Afro-centric world music band called People of Good Will, but realized he had limitations as a musician.
“I didn’t shed enough,” he said. “My stuff may have been melodically interesting, but not harmonically, because I couldn’t find the notes and wouldn’t shed to learn the other scales to make things more interesting. It’s like being a painter and you don’t know the strokes to get your ideas on canvas until you learn depth and all that. Same thing. I just didn’t shed. My wife suggested I had a good photo eye and that maybe I should develop that as my art form. And I wisely listened.”
Just as musicians on a jazz stage build an improvisation over the framework of a song, Maurice said he is still growing and learning as a photographer, working with light and musicians’ actions and moods in the moment.
“What I am striving for is a greater sense of intimacy with the performance,” he said. “My timing and peripheral vision are getting better. I’m trying to get moments, maybe not with their instrument in their mouth – some of those meditative moments or conversations – some of the in-between stuff.”
As inspiration, Maurice cited a classic image by Roy DeCarava of John Coltrane at the Half Note in New York, and Gordon Parks, Sr.’s capture of Miles Davis under a spotlight. Maurice’s photos can be seen on his Facebook and Instagram pages as well as on an Open Studio Hartford page.
But he not only captures musicians’ images: He also brings jazz fans the music itself on Accent On Creative Music, his weekly show on WWUH (from 9 pm Wednesday through 5 am Thursday) and through his role as programming chairperson at the Hartford Jazz Society, which presents shows such as the annual Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series and spring and fall concerts.
If he has any concerns about the future of jazz, it’s that it has become considered by many to be a “free” music at events like town green concerts: “That’s been most concerning, getting folks to realize there are production costs; it may be free to come but it’s not free to put on. Art forms require some financial sustenance and it’s a challenge in that respect – but somehow it continues to thrive. We find funders and jazz angels.”
“Life is rich,” Maurice said, citing Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Theme For The Eulipions,” in which the audience is implored to stop for a moment and really listen to a musician’s offering in unlikely spots like train stations and airports, a “duty free gift to the traveler.” It’s all a metaphor for heeding the eulipions, the artistic change agents, in life’s journey itself, and Maurice has never stopped sharing the music that makes it more bearable.
Tuesday jam helps students rub elbows with pros
Bassist Matt Dwonszyk is organizing a monthly jam that will allow students to get up on stage with some of the region’s most accomplished professionals. He’s carrying on the wishes of the late saxophonist Paisley Ramirez, whom Matt said called him earlier this year to ask him to get the ball rolling.
The jams will be held every third Tuesday of the month through December at Carmine’s, 389 Main St. in East Hartford. Featured band’s set goes from 7:30 - 8:45 and open jam runs from 9-10:30. No cover! Bring your ax!
This month’s jam, which will be held this coming Tuesday (Oct. 15), features the Haneef Nelson quintet, with Haneef on trumpet, Nathan Edwards on tenor sax, Andrew Wilcox on keys, Akin Hobson on drums, and Matt on bass. The professional rhythm section stays to back up the jammers.
“The point is to try and get students out to come jam and bump shoulders with some professionals,” Matt told 8495Jazz in an email. “All of this was Paisley Ramirez's idea. He called me seven months ago and asked if I'd help try and put it together. Sadly he told me he was sick and might not be able to make it to the fall. He passed shortly after from cancer. We are continuing on with his idea for the music and out of respect to Paisley.”
Matt has also posted a GoFundMe to help cover the band and guest artists’ time.
Litchfield Jazz Camp Talent Search Registration Opens
Litchfield Jazz Camp has opened registration for its second annual talent search. The contest is open to students ages 13 to 17 on all instruments and vocals. Five winners will receive scholarships to Litchfield Jazz Camp 2025 at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, Conn.
All applicants must submit a video playing “Au Privave" by Charlie Parker. The video must include the melody followed by a 3-chorus solo ending with the melody out performed alongside a live band. This band can range from a duet (horn with piano, for example) to a quartet (horn with piano, bass and drums). Deadline is January 1, 2025.
If a band is not available, a click track may be used (for example the iRealPro app or a backing track from YouTube).
Registration fee is $30, which will be waived for households with incomes of $50,000 or less. Semi-finalists will play with a professional trio in front of judges on March 8, 2025.
More information is available here.
Out and about in SNE with 8495Jazz
Upcoming club and concert highlights (all information is current at press time, please confirm by contacting the venue):
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
I don’t know about you, but that Paisley Jam in East Hartford on Tuesday night screams top-shelf talent to me. I’m going to do my absolute best to make it.
Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT
Jason Robinson, Ancestral Numbers (sax, combo) Fri., Oct. 18, 8:30 and 10 pm. $20/8:30, $15/10 pm set.
Elicit Brewery, Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Mon., Oct. 14, 7:30 pm. Free.
Small Batch Cellars, North Haven, CT
Eight To The Bar (swing), Fri., Oct. 18, 7 pm (doors open at 6). $17.79 (BYO food).
Packing House, Willington, CT
Greg Abate Quartet (sax/flute, combo), Fri., Oct. 18, 7:30 pm. $28.52
Courthouse Center for the Arts, S. Kingstown, RI
Eliot Fisk and Pasquale Grasso (guitar), Classical Meets Jazz, Wed., Oct. 16, 7:30 pm. $30, $5 students and seniors.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Alma Micic (vocals, combo), Thur., Oct. 17, 7:30 pm. $15.76 - $20.76.
Side Door, Old Lyme, CT
Renee Rosnes (piano, combo), Fri., Oct. 18, Sat. Oct. 19, 8:30 pm. $55, $20 students with ID.
Jams
Cafe Nine, New Haven CT
New Haven Jazz Underground jam, usually 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month: free admission
Saturday Jazz Jam, most Saturdays. Free admission.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Here’s a preview of what Haneef Nelson and his friends might bring to Tuesday’s jam, from the 2022 Springfield jazz festival:
You can help make 8495Jazz better. Share it with your music-loving friends. Like the 8495 Jazz Facebook page. Send gig information and story suggestions to 8495jazz@gmail.com