Local Jazz Events Help Celebrate Dr. King's Message
MLK's essay reminds us of its power to build faith, love, and community
The Afro-Semitic Experience, shown here at a 2024 show at the Westport Library, will help celebrate Martin Luther King Weekend with a Shabbat concert at Temple Beth David in Cheshire Friday night (8495Jazz photo)
It’s hard to fathom 57 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered in Memphis – people approaching 70 today were children, and collective memory has a tendency to mythologize the realities of the late 1960s.
Musically, collective memory may also have a tendency to narrowly associate Dr. King with gospel music, but he was also very cognizant of the role jazz played in the civil rights movement of the time; one of his lesser-known essays was written at the invitation of the organizers of the first Berlin Jazz Festival in 1964.
“Jazz speaks for life,” his essay reads in part. “The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.
“Modern jazz has continued in this tradition, singing the songs of a more complicated urban existence. When life itself offers no order and meaning, the musician creates an order and meaning from the sounds of the earth which flow through his instrument.”
And, in creating order and meaning, one also creates the opportunity to create community, which Dr. King also recognized.
“And now, Jazz is exported to the world. For in the particular struggle of the Negro in America there is something akin to the universal struggle of modern man. Everybody has the Blues. Everybody longs for meaning. Everybody needs to love and be loved. Everybody needs to clap hands and be happy. Everybody longs for faith.
“In music, especially this broad category called Jazz, there is a stepping stone towards all of these.”
It seems fitting, then, that regional organizations will be celebrating jazz and its power to build community this upcoming MLK weekend:
The Hartford Jazz Society will be holding a first-of-its-kind “Celebrating Jazz & Community” fundraiser Friday from 7 – 10 pm at The Artists’ Collective, 1200 Albany Ave. in Hartford. Tickets are $30 for HJS members and $35 for non-members. Proceeds will directly support the 2025 Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series and the society’s Scholarship Fund.
The Paul Brown series, which is held at Hartford’s Bushnell Park six consecutive Monday nights in the summer, will be entering its 58th year this summer; it is the oldest free continuously-run jazz festival in the U.S. Each show will include an opening act featuring a local musician or ensemble followed by a headliner of regional, national, or international prominence.
The shows are free to attend, but not to produce; HJS programming chair Maurice Robertson told 8495Jazz the series costs between $75,000 to $80,000. Maurice said acts are usually announced in the late spring, after seed funding from grants is received.
The price of admission to Friday’s event includes musical performance by Linda Ransom and Friends, a raffle with prizes, including gift baskets, jazz photos by Maurice, backstage passes to the Paul Brown series, and more. Cash bar and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Bristol, CT’s Downtown Live at the Rockwell Theater series will present “The Soul Session: A Night of Live Music and Art,” Saturday at the Rockwell, 70 Memorial Blvd. Tickets are $35, doors open at 5 pm, and music starts at 7.
“The Soul Session is an evening dedicated to celebrating the essence of jazz, rhythm & blues and neo-soul music through live performances, visual art and spoken word,” organizers said in the show’s promotional material. “There will be a silent auction, showcasing local creators with proceeds directly supporting the artists. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will also be honored for his many contributions to social justice for the betterment of communities across America.”
The Afro-Semitic Experience, the New Haven-based band that blends the music of the Jewish and Afro-diasporic melodies and grooves, will celebrate its 27th anniversary Friday at the MLK Shabbat service at Temple Beth David, 3 Main St., Cheshire, CT, at 7 pm.
The band’s core message is “Unity in the Community,” deftly displaying the combination of the core concepts of àse and shalom – power, action, unity, and peace. Carlos Ramos of The Rainbow Reporter described the band’s sound as “Charles Mingus sitting in with a Klezmer band, playing gospel music set to the polyrhythmic pace of congas and bongos.”
Guitarist Gianni Gardner and a band well-known to Connecticut jazz fans (Andrew Wilcox on piano, Matt Dwonszyk on bass, Jonathan Barber on drums, and Nathan Edwards on sax) perform at a 2022 Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series show at Bushnell Park in Hartford. The Hartford Jazz Society’s “Jazz & Community” fundraiser Friday night will help make this year’s series possible.
Out and About in SNE With 8495Jazz
8495Jazz Wild Card Gig of the Week
Nichols United Methodist Church, Trumbull, CT
Blue River Jazz Band (Spaghetti Supper Concert Series), Sat., Jan. 18. Dinner $15 adults, freewill offering for concert.
8495Jazz Spur of the Moment Jaunt TODAY
The Parlour, Providence, RI
Clear Audience, 6 pm. All ages, $10.
Other Shows This Week
Hartford Public Library Downtown Branch, Hartford, CT
Baby Grand Jazz Series, MNM Trio w/Josh Bruneau, today, 3 pm. Free.
VFW Post 399, Westport, CT
Giacomo Gates (vocals, combo), Thur., Jan. 16, 7:30 and 8:45 pm. $20.76, $15.76 student/veteran.
Uncle Cheef, Brewster, NY
Alex Kautz (percussion), today, 5:30 and 7 pm. $10-$20, one ticket good for both sets.
Chan’s, Woonsocket, RI
Ken Vario Quintet (trumpet, combo) Sat., Jan. 18, 8 pm. $55 advance, $20 at the door.
Elicit Brewing Company, Manchester, CT
Hartford Jazz Orchestra, Mon., Jan. 13, 7:30 pm. Free
Jazz Forum Arts, Tarrytown, NY
Ekep Nkwelle (vocals), Fri., Jan. 17 and Sat. Jan 18, 7 and 9:30 pm. $40, $35 student.
Looking ahead: There’s a waiting list for public tickets to see Yale Jazz Festival headliner Cécile McLorin Salvant (showtime is 7 pm Sat., Jan. 25). Tickets are free if you’re lucky enough to get off the waiting list and into the show.
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, 4 pm. Free.
Blackeyed Sally’s, Hartford, CT
Jazz Wednesdays, featured set 7 pm, jam session afterward.
Jazz Societies and Organizations (great info on events, festivals, and more)
Jazz Society of Fairfield County
Jazz Fridays at Three Sheets New Haven 1st/3rd Fridays from 6-9pm
Jazz Thursdays at The Cannon New Haven every other thurs from 7-9pm.
You can help make 8495Jazz better. Share it with your music-loving friends. Follow us on Facebook and Bluesky. Share gig information and story suggestions to 8495jazz@gmail.com