Jazz tunes from all corners of the globe filled the air last week for the 15th Arlington Jazz Festival.
The festival kicked off Wednesday evening with performances by the Morningside Quintet and the Mitch Livstone Quartet at Town Tavern and concluded Sunday with the Stanley Jordan Trio at Regent Theatre.
On Friday evening, the Summer Street Stompers, Annie & the Fur Trappers, and District 5 Jazz Band played an effervescent set combining strong vocals with traditional jazz and blues of the 1920s and ’30s, hard bop and funk at the Mill Café. The multigenerational crowd swayed and danced to the lively music and enjoyed food and drinks from the café and the Arlington Brewing Company.
Roanne Neuwirth, chief marketing officer at BTS, a global business consulting firm, attended Friday’s show to watch the Summer Street Stompers. She admired how they played in a bustling atmosphere.
“The band did a really good job playing in an environment that’s filled with lots of people talking,” Neuwirth said.
Neuwirth also enjoyed seeing a lot of young children in attendance. “I loved the whole community environment and the fact that the children are getting introduced to music and enjoying the music,” Neuwirth said. “It seemed very joyous and a great way for a community to engage around music.”
On Sunday morning, the Jon Wheatley & Sheryl Bailey Duo played a set on acoustic guitars for a jazz brunch at Tryst.
Apefa Ashiagbor, a Medford resident, didn’t know about the Arlington Jazz Festival prior to attending brunch. She appreciated the performance. “I’m enjoying it … It’s one of the genres that I listen to,” said Ashiagbor, who is the chief admin officer of the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. “I’m already engaged in it.”
Sheryl Bailey, assistant chair of guitar at the Berklee College of Music, described Sunday’s audience as a “knowledgeable crowd.” She said she loves jazz music’s ability to bring people together.
“I love the feeling of jazz. The swing feeling makes me feel joyful and makes me want to dance,” Bailey said. “Jazz welcomes all people and that’s what I love about it.”
Jon Wheatley, associate professor of guitar at Berklee, said jazz fosters connection. “Jazz is about conversation, and we’re interested in each other’s tunes and arrangements,” Wheatley said. “Saying jazz is one kind of music would be like saying there’s one flavor of ice cream.”
Dan Fox came up with the idea for the festival after he moved to Arlington from Brookline in 2006. “I was doing some investigating to see if there had ever been a jazz festival in town, and I could find no evidence of it,” said Fox, a jazz musician who owns Morningside Music studio.
He launched the festival in 2011 as a one-day concert at the Arlington Center for the Arts performed by Fox’s band and music students. Fifteen years later, the festival has expanded to include nearly 30 performers across 10 venues.
This year marked the first time that all of the festival’s concerts were free to attend, with the exception of the final show at the Regent. Fox emphasized how the festival spotlights Boston-area based artists, such as students from the Arlington High School Jazz Combo and Berklee.
“I like it to be a community event and also show off the great talent we have in the Boston area,” he said.
This year’s musical lineup featured a diverse array of performances, ranging from traditional and modern American to Brazilian and Haitian-Creole styles.
“I like to represent all the different spectrums,” Fox said. “I love the variety and how different cultures interpret jazz and make it their own.”
After the Arlington Jazz Festival became a nonprofit in 2017, Fox said the organization expanded thanks to increased funding that allowed the festival to use the Regent as a venue.
Over the years, Fox said that the festival has been warmly received by community members. “I meet people who come up to me and say, ‘I’ve been coming to your events and love it. Keep it going,’” Fox said. “People are very encouraging.”
All photos are by Dave Shrewsbury.
