Anne Murphy, Aug 27, 2024
The Selby Avenue JazzFest has been a mainstay of the Summit-University neighborhood for the past 22 years. After the close of last year’s festival, JazzFest founder and director Mychael Wright asked Walker West Music Academy to take the reins, hoping it would give the festival a greater focus on up-and-coming talent.
The Selby Avenue music school gladly accepted. It will present the 2024 JazzFest from 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 14, at the intersection of Selby and Milton avenues.
In keeping with Wright’s original intent to showcase Twin Cities talent, this year’s lineup features Jamecia Bennett, L.A. Buckner and Big Homie, Ashley DuBose, the Capri Big Band, the Selby Avenue Brass Band and the Walker West Music Academy All-Stars.
Walker West executive director Braxton Haulcy said the decision to take over the JazzFest “was a no brainer for me. This is about community. Mychael has been a phenomenal community steward with the JazzFest, and he has the respect and credibility of the community.”
It was after seeing a need to heal and also celebrate Saint Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood that Wright decided to try a jazz festival. That was in 2002, the year after the 9/11 attacks when people were still feeling somber, he said. Wright, with his wife Stephanie, had just opened Golden Thyme Coffee and Cafe at the corner of Selby and Milton.
“To continue jazz and accentuate the positivity of our community through jazz are what Stephanie and I want, and Walker West will do that,” said Wright, who lives in Summit-University. “Jazz is a laid back kind of music and groove that puts you in a good place. Thinking about Walker West and all of the talent that has come out of there, some of whom are nationally renowned, and the fact that it’s the only Black music academy in the country, really shows the depth they can go with jazz.”
“Taking JazzFest aligned with our strategic plan,” Haulcy said. “We want to be out there performing. We’re sending our kids and our teachers out through the community to perform on behalf of Walker West. There are two ways that people heal and benefit from music. It’s from learning it and listening to it. Those two things, those two anchors, are what’s going to be driving Walker West going forward. We’re going to put as much investment in performing as we do in education.”
Wright is helping with this year’s JazzFest
The Wrights will be working closely with the academy on all of the key parts of the festival. “We’re making this transition with Mychael’s direction,” Haulcy said. “We brought him on as a consultant for the next two years. We asked him to help us kind of navigate how to lay this out and do it in such a way that it reflects the community. Mychael has a vision and a mindset that we’re learning from because we’ve never done a jazz fest.”
As for the students performing, Haulcy said, “one of the things we’re really trying to focus on is to encourage more of our students who come for private lessons to play in ensembles. When you have the opportunity to play in a group, there’s a lot of skill building that goes on. There are a lot of listening skills learned. There’s team building skills, discipline, and then you get to go out in front of an audience and play and you build that confidence. Those are life skills that help you, not only as a musician but as a human being.”
JazzFest is lesson in performance for Walker-West All-Stars
Longtime Walker West music instructor Felix James applauded those notions. He has been a teacher there since its founding in 1988 by the Reverend Carl Walker and Grant West. He also led students in performances at the first JazzFest. “I took my kids down to be the opening act,” he recalled. “We were always there. And we put on a pretty good show for about 45 minutes.”
James, who also taught music in the Saint Paul Public Schools, has nearly a dozen Walker West students under his tutelage now. For them, he said, the Selby JazzFest “is sort of a teaching lesson in performance.” The experience is invaluable to young musicians as long as competition does not figure into it, he added.
“We don’t encourage competition (in performance),” James said. “We encourage it for the educational aspect. I have a saying. I tell students and even young instructors, “the only person you’re competing with is yourself. If you can look in the mirror every morning and say, ‘Can I play a little bit better than I played yesterday?’ that is what you’re after.”
Walker West instructor and Selby Avenue Brass Band leader Thomas Wells believes that Walker West’s support of JazzFest will further the hopes that gave rise to the event. “The community trusts Walker West the way the community trusts Mychael and Stephanie Wright,” he said. “This was the way to go.”
Wells, who lives next door to Golden Thyme, is looking forward to playing some New Orleans-style jazz at the upcoming festival. After his band plays, he will take to his porch to listen to the other performers and enjoy the family-friendly atmosphere. “It has always been and will always be a wonderful event for the neighborhood and community,” he said.
“Music is positive and uplifting for a community,” Wright said. “That’s what has always been behind JazzFest. This year I want people to go away talking about how they can’t wait for next year’s JazzFest.”
For more information on the event, visit selbyavejazzfest.com.
