Labor Day is a circle-the-date weekend for jazz in the Midwest with free festivals in Detroit and Chicago. The organizers of the Hingetown Jazz Festival would like to add their event to the list, and judging by the success of the inaugural all-day, all-free festival last year, they just might have a chance.
“It caught us by surprise,” said Amber Rogers, executive director of the Local 4 Music Fund, which presents the festival. “We expected maybe a couple hundred people throughout the day, and my guess is we probably had close to a thousand. It was insane.”
But was it? People come to Hingetown looking to enjoy themselves. Offer them easy walkability, top-flight musicians, a holiday weekend and lovely weather—then make it all free—and you have a sure-fire recipe for success.
As easy as 1, 2, 3
So don’t look for substantial changes this year. BOP STOP and Jukebox, both of which were filled to overflowing, return as anchor venues this year. North High Brewing, which closed its Ohio City location weeks after last year’s event, is out, but Transformer Station is in. But unlike the Cleveland Museum of Art’s popular City Stages concerts that also take place there, the action on Saturday will be indoors.
“It’s a lively room acoustically. So I decided to make that the duo room,” said Daniel Bruce. Duos led by Dave Sterner, Billie Mitchell, Tim Lekan and a concluding set by Evelyn Wright and Joe Hunter will be in the airy gallery space. “It’s going to be way more intimate. It’s gonna be really cool. It’s just gonna be like the chill room.”
Around the corner at Jukebox, trios led by funky drummer Rob Hubbard, guitarists Tim Picard and Brent Hamker and saxophonists Chris Burge and Nathan-Paul Davis will play the outdoor patio, while BOP STOP, the festival’s anchor location, will host larger groups. Those include the raucous Da Land brass band, Chris Coles’ intriguing new Gleam project (more about this in two weeks), the Stephen Philip Harvey Octet and to conclude the evening, two bands that draw on vernacular inspiration to make joyous jazz: Anthony Taddeo’s Alla Boara and Ronell Regis’ Grenada To The World.
Homegrown
A menu this rich implies a fair amount of decision making about what to hear and what to miss, but Bruce, Local 4’s president and a co-founder with Rogers of the festival, had a plan for that, too, scheduling band to overlap by 15-minute intervals. “I wanted it to be like you could go from place to place and each thing was gonna be different, but really be strong,” he said, “And I’m really excited about it.”
Bruce might be even more excited about introducing to new listeners some of the finest local musicians. “We wanted to highlight some of the great players that are Local 4 members, like Brad Wagner, Chris Coles, Aidan Plank, Chris Burge, Crystal Burks, a great young percussionist. and more. Then there are players that aren’t heard as much as they should be, like [guitarist] Bob Fraser. He’s such a legend in the scene, but you don’t really see him play much anymore. So I was super excited when he said he was going to do it.”
Another guitarist making his Hingetown fest debut is Bruce himself, who will take a familiar spot on the BOP STOP stage with Alla Boara. Even though booking decisions are made by a committee, Bruce wanted to avoid any hint of self-dealing, so last year he intentionally traded his guitar for a clipboard and a cell phone. When other musicians asked him to play this year, Bruce was encouraged by Rogers to pull double duty. “I just figured, well, I’ll try it,” he said, “I’ve watched Theron [Brown] do it at Rubber City a bunch. So I think it’s doable.”
Keeping things doable is a lodestar for Rogers and Bruce as they steer Hingetown toward a permanent place on northeast Ohio’s musical calendar. Bruce cited a commitment to the neighborhood as a guiding principle behind the event. “We’re not trying to grow it into a large thing, but it’s the kind of thing that could be duplicated around Cleveland,” he said, “Wouldn’t it be great if that happened?”
Sure would, but for now, Bruce has a message for the open-eared, open-minded music fans of northeast Ohio. “Everybody check out who’s in your town. Go find these people throughout the year. Go follow them. Get on their website. Get on their email list. Buy their stuff and support them. Buy local. It’s organic.”
Hingetown Jazz Fest, Sat., Aug. 31, 2 – 9:30 p.m., various locations in Ohio City, free. Full list of artists and venues available here
NOTE: This article was written by a real human being. No artificial intelligence or generative language models were used in its creation.
Red beans and ricely yours,
jc
