Montclair Jazz Festival at Nishuane Park

On Sunday afternoon, a large, appreciative audience was in attendance at Nishuane Park to hear Montclair’s own Jazz House Kids fill the air with the sweet sounds of jazz. 

The annual Summer Jazz Festival featured in-house youth ensembles with names like the JHK Thundering Herd, the JHK Latin Big Band, JHK Native Soul and JHK Titans, among many others.  Artist Faculty groups were also featured, along with renowned adult performers like Melissa Walker, Christian McBride, Monty Alexander and Ulysses Owens.  

Also in the line-up were Billy Hart, Dave Stryker, Michele Rosewoman, Freddie Hendrix, Bruce Williams, Julius Tolentino, Steve Johns, Ted Chubb, Bob Ferrel, Andy McKee, Oscar Perez, Ed Palermo, Radam Schwartz and Mike Lee. 

Jazz chanteuse Melissa Walker, Founder and Executive Director of Jazz House Kids, was on hand to lend her voice and expertise to the event.  She could not have been more pleased with the show of community support for the hard-working and accomplished musicians. 

“Our vision for the Montclair Jazz Festival is that it become an annual destination for people from all over the tri-state area,” said Walker.  “I think we saw that on Saturday with hundreds of people coming out to enjoy a fabulous afternoon of jazz.  I couldn’t be more delighted to see this happen.  It’s a huge win for our students, jazz and the town of Montclair.”    

Added Walker, “This is the second year that the weather experts predicted rain and mother nature had mercy on us and gave us a beautiful day!”

Jazz House Kids offers an array of music classes like Jazz Cats I & II, Jazz Youth Choir, Jazz Fun 101, Teen Town I & II and Jazz Cats Big Band.  JHK has continued to grow since its inception in 2002, and now also offers musical instruction for adults.  

“Jazz House Kids provides inspiring, professional jazz music instruction and education to children from all backgrounds, raising their motivation and academic performance to build a vibrant strong community and a robust future for America’s Home-Grown Music.” -- JHK website. 

For more information: http://www.jazzhousekids.org

Mailing Address
623 Eagle Rock Avenue - Suite 118
West Orange, New Jersey 07052

Phone
973-744-2273

Fax
973-744-2988

To Support JHK
donate@jazzhousekids.org

For Program Booking
booking@jazzhousekids.org

To Learn More About JHK
info@jazzhousekids.org