When the great alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley led his celebrated quintet in a soul-drenched concert on the streets of north Hartford in 1967, no one could possibly have imagined that this was the first step in the dramatic evolution of what would become two remarkable, free outdoor jazz festivals in Bushnell Park: the venerable Monday Night Jazz Series and its younger, no less vibrant sibling, the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz.
Now almost a half-century since Adderley’s street concert, these two major summer jazz fests draw thousands of fans every year to the downtown park for festivities that include more than free, high quality music. Many fans are, for example, also attracted by the warm camaraderie that prevails, a palpable sense of community among concert-goers, including not only friends and family, but also total strangers.
Historically, jazz has somehow always inspired ethnic and color-blind bonding, something that the two festivals have been doing quite well for decades in Bushnell Park.
With lawn chairs, blankets and coolers spread out all over the stately lawn, the free concerts are in many ways also just plain fun. They’re very much a giant, al fresco picnic and party all wrapped up in one on this cozy urban site nestled in the west end of the park, overlooked by the iconic, golden-domed state Capitol, the festivals’ unofficial beacon by nightfall.
Monday Night Jazz, which opened its 2015 season on July 6, presents its weekly series through Aug. 10, with opening acts at 6 p.m. and headliners at 7:30 p.m. It mixes such headliners as the rising, red-hot bassist/singer Mimi Jones with top regional talent like the gifted trumpeter Ricky Alfonso.
The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, which bills itself as “the largest free jazz event in New England,” presents its entertaining weekend extravaganza from Friday to Sunday, July 17 to 19.
Monday Night Jazz, which long ago made historic Bushnell Park virtually synonymous with free, outdoor jazz concerts, is pushing 50 this summer. Presented by the nonprofit Hartford Jazz Society, the series presents such headliners as Latin jazz percussionist Steven Kroon and such regional worthies as trumpeter Haneef Nelson, among others.
Because of the huge turnout the Greater Hartford Festival draws — reportedly 70,000 at last summer’s weekend bash — the festive spirit is heightened by big crowds bustling about the food trucks and arts and crafts booths, which make it look as if an exotic, traveling bazaar had just pitched camp on the park grounds.
If the nonprofit Greater Hartford Festival ever adopts a motto, it would have to be: “Let the Good Times Roll.” With its total dedication to pleasure, it serves a broad palette of savory sounds ranging over funk, pop, mainstream, Latin and soft jazz. It seeks to be all things to all people, rather than catering to just hardcore purists.
Even mainstream purists can, however, take great delight in the scheduled appearance by the superb, hard-swinging bassist and Hartford native Dezron Douglas and his all-star quartet, featuring powerhouse saxophonist Abraham Burton. In marked stylistic contrast, the group Jus Us will also keep folks festive with their soulful servings of what is billed as “Old School/Motown/R&B,” while the Funky Dawgz combo brings a taste of New Orleans jazz gumbo to the park.
Not to be missed is the opening night headliner, the Jamaican-born piano dynamo, Monty Alexander (8:30 p.m. with opening acts starting at 7 p.m.).
Besides the free fare in the park, the festival is featuring off-campus celebrations, including a jazz brunch and a pre-festival launch party. Both are ticketed events at Hartford’s newest downtown venue, Infinity Music Hall and Bistro. For information: hartfordjazz.com.
Because the two summer festivals are both free and held in Bushnell Park, people often confuse one with the other. So here’s a capsule history.
Out of that first free outdoor concert featuring Cannonball Adderley came what was initially called the Hartford Festival of Jazz under the visionary leadership of Hartford bassist Paul Brown. After a nomadic existence, the festival finally and most famously set down in its permanent home in Bushnell Park. Since then it has drawn countless thousands of fans over the decades under the banner of the Monday Night Jazz Series.
This series begat The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in 1992, which was initially launched to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Brown’s groundbreaking, free outdoor series. By then, thanks to Brown’s super-heroic efforts, the Monday Night Jazz Series had long been ensconced in Bushnell Park and become one of the capital city’s premier cultural events of the summer.
And oddly enough, even if you don’t think you like jazz or think of the music as merely the soundtrack for a summer’s day or evening, you can still have a good time at a park festival by soaking up its extra-musical ambience.
And it’s all free — You can’t lose.
MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ AND GREATER HARTFORD JAZZ FESTIVAL: For more information and the complete lineup and concert times see hartfordmondaynightjazz.com and hartfordjazz.com.
