Black Music Sunday is a weekly collection highlighting all issues Black music, with over 270 tales protecting performers, genres, historical past, and extra, every that includes its personal vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll discover some acquainted tunes and maybe an introduction to one thing new.
I haven’t been to a reside music competition in years, although I sit up for watching them when they’re streamed or posted to social media, and listening to reside albums. I really like the interaction between musicians and their audiences. I believe there’s a particular electrical energy that occurs solely in reside performances. Despite all of the ugly that’s happening in our nation in the mean time, there’s lots of reside music occurring within the coming month forward and past, so I wish to share a few of the venues and their histories, and I hope you’ll publish data within the feedback part under about festivals happening in your neck o’ the woods.
When taking a look at Ebony’s “Upcoming 2025 Music Festivals Celebrating Black Music” checklist, I discovered some have already handed, but one of many greatest—the Newport Jazz Pageant—is scheduled for Aug. 1-3. I’ve by no means been, however for years I’ve listened to albums recorded there and watched movies, a few of which I’ll publish right here. I spotted I knew virtually nothing about its historical past.
WUN—What’s Up Newp—had some solutions:
In 1954, George Wein created an occasion that modified not simply the historical past of jazz however of music basically, shaping all types of the fashionable competition whereas offering an area by which artwork could possibly be approached in a critical and respectful – but not limited- method. This collection traces the historical past of the legendary Newport Jazz Pageant from earlier than its formation within the Fifties to the current day.
13 thousand followers attended the inaugural occasion and the competition was considered an important success, the competition would transfer to Freebody Park in 1955.
The primary Newport Jazz Pageant, often known as the First Annual American Jazz Pageant, was held on July seventeenth and July 18th, 1954 on the Newport On line casino. The 2 day occasion featured educational panel discussions and reside music performances from Billie Vacation, Ella Fitzgerald, Lee Konitz, Eddie Condon and lots of extra.
13 thousand followers attended the inaugural occasion and the competition was considered an important success, the competition would transfer to Freebody Park in 1955.
An excerpt from How Newport Jazz Started by George Wein:
“The primary Newport Jazz Pageant in 1954 set the formulation for all main jazz festivals to comply with. In style artists had been the points of interest that offered tickets, nevertheless it was the essential unsung jazz heroes from the standard to avant-garde that attracted the critics and gave the competition a creative credibility.
In 1954, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Gene Krupa, George Shearing, and Billie Vacation had been common jazz artists of the day. This system included tributes and reunions, that are commonplace these days. Panels handled the tutorial strategy to the music. This formulation, commercialism blended with creative credibility, continues to at the present time. The distinction is that as the good names in jazz handed away, the Ellingtons, Armstrongs, Fitzgeralds, and many others. it had been essential to typically use crossover teams that mirror many points of American common music that don’t essentially mirror the purity of jazz. But, these artists promote tickets and all competition producers know that with out folks, there is no such thing as a competition.
I needed to know extra and have spent a number of days studying and listening to the historical past compiled on the location PostGenre. Haven’t completed all of it but. I strongly counsel you pay it a go to.
A Historical past of the Newport Jazz Pageant – Prologue: Born in Storyville, 1950-1954
In September of 1950, twenty-four-year-old George Wein used his school financial savings to open a nightclub, Storyville, at Boston’s Copley Sq. Lodge. The venue boldly deliberate to current jazz in a brand new mild. Taking its title from the legendary New Orleans district of debauchery, brothels, and flophouses from whence the music got here, the budding entrepreneur deliberate to reform its picture in direction of yet another reflective of the artwork type’s true magnificence. The strategy was an instantaneous success with folks from throughout town flocking to see the Bob Wilber Sextet’s performances there. Inside six weeks, nevertheless, the constructing proprietor’s misleading enterprise practices compelled Wein into an moral dilemma. Slightly than persevering with to perpetuate these acts, he selected to shutter the enterprise.
Storyville reopened in February of 1951 on the Buckminster Lodge close to Fenway Park. In contrast to its predecessor, it initially struggled to seek out an viewers. Whereas this might have deterred many, Wein remained undaunted. By the autumn, he expended a big sum to e-book pianist George Shearing, who had a big following. The gamble paid off, starting a collection of sold-out performances. Over time, journalists more and more visited and, via their writings, additionally uncovered artists to a brand new viewers. All through, it was clear that Storyville can be a spot of great reflection. Gone had been the tradition of medication and prostitution that when undermined the music. And whereas chatter and background noise had been unavoidable, the venue’s focus was unmistakable. As Nat Hentoff famous, “[c]ompared to the opposite golf equipment on the town, listening to a jazz musician at Storyville is like sitting at dwelling with a pair of earphones.”
The story continues with Wein having opened a second membership—Mahogany Corridor.
Nevertheless it was on a chilly winter night time in 1953 at Storyville that Wein would take the primary steps to make his biggest mark on historical past. That night, an everyday of the membership, Professor Donald Born of close by Boston College, was joined by a stylishly dressed redheaded girl who had been auditing his programs. Beforehand, she additionally studied on the New England Conservatory of Music and the Boston Faculty of Superb Arts. Her title was Elaine Lorillard and, along with being an ardent music lover, she was the spouse of Louis Livingston Lorillard, a descendant of tobacco tycoon Pierre Lorillard. The youthful Lorillards had been leaders of excessive society in Newport, Rhode Island.
Whereas a gorgeous small metropolis with an outdated New England attraction, Newport was, in Elaine’s phrases, “terribly boring in the summertime.” She tried so as to add some pleasure the prior 12 months by internet hosting a efficiency by the New York Philharmonic on the Newport On line casino, a historic membership for the neighborhood’s social “elites.” The endeavor misplaced the Lorillards and their acquaintances $30,000. Elaine hoped that George might current one thing jazz-focused that will succeed the place this prior venture failed. Wein’s instant inclination was to open a summer-only membership there. Nonetheless, he regularly moved in direction of one thing larger. Drawing inspiration from the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s seasonal residency at Tanglewood, it finally turned the Newport Jazz Pageant.
Studying this historical past, I puzzled when the primary jazz competition happened, and Google landed me on an NPR story from musician/journalist Patrick Jarenwattananon:
On the Public Sq. of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., there’s a plaque that claims that “America’s First Jazz Pageant” occurred there in 1951:
On February 23, 1951 historical past was made in Wilkes-Barre. Eight jazz bands received collectively for “The Cavalcade of Dixieland Jazz” which turned the nation’s first jazz competition. On this event April 29, 1994 the Metropolis of Wilkes-Barre acknowledges and pays tribute to these early jazz musicians and promoters who initiated the custom which continues at this time, not solely right here in its birthplace, however all through the nation.
Jarenwattananon debunks that declare and factors as a substitute to “the 1938 Carnival of Swing introduced some 20-plus teams on New York’s Randall’s Island, together with Basie and Ellington and a variety of different legends,” and posted this video:
Lester Younger is featured right here. In case you look intently you would possibly see violinist Stuff Smith within the viewers clapping alongside and guitarist Teddy Bunn on the aspect strains diggin’ the band.
This 12 months’s Newport lineup, introduced in April consists of: Janelle Monáe, the Roots, Jacob Collier, Raye, Jorja Smith, Esperanza Spalding, Willow, De La Soul and Thee Sacred Souls, Dianne Reeves, the Yussef Dayes Expertise, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Terence Blanchard, the Preservation Corridor Jazz Band, Stanley Jordan, and Ron Carter.
The 1959 documentary “Jazz on a Summer time’s Day” captures the competition expertise.
Filmed on the 1958 Newport Jazz Pageant in Rhode Island and directed by world-renowned photographer Bert Stern, Jazz on a Summer time’s Day options intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends together with Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O’Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a gorgeous rendition of The Lord’s Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning.
There are such a lot of Newport movies that it’s tough for me to select and select for this story, so I’ll train my predilection for feminine jazz vocalists and publish Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Carmen McRae:
Additionally right here on the East Coast, town of Rochester, New York, is holding its thirtieth annual Rochester Summer time Soul Music Pageant, developing on Aug. 9:
This 12 months’s competition is headlined by the legendary Jeffrey Osborne, with featured performances by Dave Hollister, Sunshine Anderson, Sky Whatley, Negus IRap, Erin and Ross, Garth Fagan Dance, and DJ Dana. Internet hosting the festivities are Jazzy T from 103.9 WDYX, visitor host Que of Day26, and Stage Basic DJ Flava
Former Mayor of Rochester William A. Johnson Jr. talks about founding the competition on this interview performed by newsman Alton Baird:
You’ll be able to try a few of the previous reside performances on the competition music channel. I grinned after I noticed they’d George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic there in 2018. Although the video is a bit tough, you may see they turned out the gang with their “Flashlight” efficiency.
Rochester’s “Mambo Kings” had been a Latin jazz crowdpleaser in 2023.
Rochester’s personal MAMBO KINGS, collectively since 1995, are having fun with nice success as Upstate New York’s foremost Latin jazz ensemble, and have quickly earned a nationwide status for his or her explosive mix of Afro Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation.
Since their orchestral debut in 1997 with the Rochester Philharmonic and Conductor Jeff Tyzik, Mambo Kings have appeared on the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Pageant and in Pops live shows with orchestras in Baltimore, Vancouver, Detroit, Dallas, Naples (FL) and Portland (OR), amongst many others, performing unique compositions and preparations by pianist Richard DeLaney.
Shifting to the Midwest, additionally in August, on the sixteenth and seventeenth, is one thing new: Detroit’s AfroFuture.
Tee Grizzley, Kaytranada amongst AfroFuture Detroit’s first wave of performers
AfroFuture Detroit was introduced in February. It’s an extension of the flagship AfroFuture occasion in Accra, Ghana, and it takes the place of Detroit’s Afro Nation competition, which was held on the Douglass web site the final two summers.
The fest will function two levels of music in addition to arts and tradition, in accordance with organizers.
“With an explosive lineup throughout two dynamic levels, we’re mixing Afrobeats, Amapiano, hip-hop and techno with artwork, trend, magnificence, and meals,” AfroFuture CEO and Co-founder Abdul Karim Abdullah mentioned in an announcement. “This summer time in Detroit, we’re creating one thing really transformative — a celebration the place each sense is engaged, and each facet of tradition is elevated.”
Among the many featured artists is Kaytranada:
Louis Kevin Celestin (a.ok.a. Kaytranada), DJ, report producer (born 25 August 1992 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti). Kaytranada is a Haitian-born, Montreal-raised DJ and report producer. His digital dance music attracts on all kinds of musical types — together with Afrobeat, hip-hop, funk, soul and R&B — and has been each critically acclaimed and commercially profitable. Kaytranada has received three Juno Awards, two Grammy Awards and the 2016 Polaris Music Prize, amongst different honours. He additionally performs together with his brother Louis-Philippe (a.ok.a. Lou Phelps) because the hip-hop duo The Celestics.
On the West Coast, The Blue Be aware Jazz Pageant: Black Radio Expertise is happening Aug. 29-31.
The Black Radio Expertise returns to The Meritage Resort and Spa this summer time, larger and higher than ever! For 3 unbelievable days, legendary artists and passionate music lovers will come collectively for a celebration in contrast to another.
From jazz, hip-hop, and R&B to soul, spoken phrase, and reside DJ units, we’re celebrating the sound, legacy, and way forward for music in all its types. Robert Glasper, the guts and soul of the competition, returns to steer this iconic weekend, bringing his visionary vitality to a lineup that may blow you away.
Along with superb performances, dive into artist-led experiences, signature culinary occasions, and wine tastings that make the Black Radio Expertise really particular. Labor Day weekend, it’s going DOWN!
Robert Glasper, who is without doubt one of the musicians I featured in final Sunday’s BMS, recaps final 12 months’s competition:
I’ve been listening to Glasper’s “Black Radio Broadcasts”:
Final however not least—additionally in California—is the historic Monterey Jazz Pageant:
Established in 1958, Monterey Jazz Pageant is the longest continuously-running jazz competition on the planet. Since then, almost 2,900 performances have taken place on the Monterey County Fairgrounds, with unforgettable weekends of music from iconic stars and up-and-coming artists over the course of 67 years.
1955
The place all of it started
Jazz impresario and disc jockey Jimmy Lyons presents pianist Erroll Garner as an installment of his new “Jazz on the Sundown” live performance collection in Carmel. A confiscated bootleg recording of the present is launched as Live performance by the Sea and turns into one of many best-selling albums of the period.
1958
Utilizing funds raised via $100 greenback donations, Jimmy Lyons and San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph Gleason current the inaugural Monterey Jazz Pageant, October 3-5. Based as a non-profit, performers included Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, the Trendy Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader, Harry James, and Billie Vacation, in her solely MJF efficiency.
I grew up listening to this album—my mother was an enormous Erroll Garner fan—however didn’t know its historical past.
Jazz involves the Monterey Peninsula with Live performance by the Sea (1955)
In September of 1955, Lyons introduced pianist Erroll Garner and his trio to the Sundown Middle, which featured drummer Denzil Greatest and bassist Eddie Calhoun. By a stroke of luck, a neighborhood fan had introduced a clunky Ampex 600 tape recorder to the live performance. Martha Glaser, Garner’s supervisor, confiscated the tapes and introduced them to New York Metropolis, the place they finally turned Live performance by the Sea, a hit LP for Columbia Data that is still to at the present time one of many best-selling albums within the annals of jazz. Slowly however certainly, the Jimmy Lyons Presents collection constructed up native help for a jazz competition that will compete with the recently-established Newport Jazz Pageant in Rhode Island. Erroll Garner’s Live performance by the Sea was the occasion – and album – that instantly introduced nationwide consideration to the realm and created a roadmap and urge for food for a jazz competition on the Monterey Peninsula.
Erroll would solely carry out on the Monterey Jazz Pageant as soon as throughout his lifetime, in 1971. However in 2015, 60 years after the unique Live performance by the Sea, Monterey Jazz Pageant introduced the Erroll Garner Venture on the Enviornment Stage, which featured pianists Geri Allen, Jason Moran, and Christian Sands as a historic revisiting of one of many Monterey Peninsula’s most well-known live shows, in conjunction to the nationwide launch of the full recordings from September 19, 1955.
Timeless and related, certainly.
Erroll Garner: The Full “Live performance by the Sea”:
This 12 months’s competition:
Garner wasn’t the one musician to report a “live performance by the ocean” album at Monterey. That honor went to jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader.
Cal Tjader crafted one the sleekest and most distinctive sounds in Latin jazz. His cool, shimmering, jazz vibes, gliding fluidly atop fiery, scorching Afro-Cuban rhythms, made for a sonic signature that helped introduce the style right into a mainstream viewers.
The album featured Al McKibbon on bass, Mongo Santamaria on congas, Paul Horn on flute and alto saxophone, Lonnie Hewitt on piano, Willie Bobo on timbales and drums, and Tjader on vibes.
Be part of me within the feedback part under for extra competition music, and please publish information of upcoming festivals in your space, and share your previous experiences attending them.
