Think New Orleans, New York, Chicago, and even Washington, D.C, and jazz comes to mind. New Haven? Not so much.
Yet the Connecticut city known more for Yale and pizza has a deep jazz culture that is tragically silent as of late, and COVID-19 is making matters worse.
The History
“I know several people that are full-timers and they’re really hurting very bad,” said Herbert Wilson, a former psychology teacher, behavior analyst and New Haven-based saxophonist.
Wilson experienced the golden era of New Haven jazz, when clubs on Dixwell Avenue attracted musicians from New York and elsewhere to jam and crowds jammed into the small places to appreciate the music.
“There was a famous club on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven called The Monterey,” Wilson said. “That was one of the first places I went, about 1975 or so. There were two brothers named the Buster Brothers, they were very key figures, they were training everybody in the area.”
The Monterey Cafe was originally a restaurant started by former vaudeville performer Rufus Greenlee in 1934. Eventually it was shortened to “The Monterey” and went on to host some of the greatest jazz performers ever, including names like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charles Parker and John Coltrane.
Wilson said top musicians of the time expected the younger generation to know their craft. If they did not, they would not be allowed to play.
“One of the things I want to point out though, in those days when they had a jam session, when I would go there I’d be the youngest person there,” Wilson said. “There were no other people my age, and the gap between the next oldest person would be at least about 10 years. When you went there there was also a social stigma where it was frowned upon and they would question ‘who is this kid coming in here?’ So if you got to sit in, they would basically begrudgingly call you up and then they would pick the song they wanted you to play and they would tell you to play it, and if you couldn’t play it you would have to go and sit down. Oftentimes they wouldn’t even introduce what the song was, they wouldn’t tell you what the key was, they wouldn’t tell you anything. It was a very tough training ground”
That rigorous training – common to jazz culture at the time – softened over time as musicians became more welcoming to younger talent, Wilson said.
“I remember that same man, his name was Bobby Buster, in 1975 that’s the way he trained me,” Wilson explained. “I remember maybe 20 years later there’s a young man who came in for the first time and Bobby said, ‘what do you want to play young man.’ So the standard of training, maybe because the masters and mentors got older, they were less vigilant, maybe they were tired of beating us up so bad, I don’t know, but they were much nicer to young people.”
That cultural shift occurred when new teaching methods and jazz interpretation emerged, making it harder than ever to just side in with musicians and jam.
“The younger musicians I tried to identify with, but one of the reasons (I couldn’t) was because their reasons and interests in music and mine were kind of different,” Wilson said.
COVID-19
Unfortunately, any growth of this community has been swiftly halted by COVID-19 and efforts to keep the virus at bay. For some, it’s been detrimental to not only pockets, but emotions and mental health as well.
“I started a band in highschool and we played basically up until this year when COVID hit,” said Casey Urso, a jazz trumpet player and senior game design major at Quinnipiac University. “I know of a few bands including my own who have stopped playing, it’s definitely a drag, for sure. It’s pretty much impossible to get anything booked during COVID. If you talk to any club owners right now, some places are even allowed to have live bands, but there’s no way anyone’s going to put their neck out for a band right now just because it’s an expense.”
Urso went on to explain that although the revenue may not be there, what’s most important is keeping a band together through communication and promotion.
“As far as keeping your band alive, I think there are tons of things you can do,” Urso said. “You just have to get creative and keep your name in people’s mouths. But it’s definitely not ideal, and I’ve seen a lot of bands go, it’s sad.”
Alongside the lack of venues for Urso’s personal band, the Quinnipiac jazz band that he was a part of was disbanded because of a lack of funding and membership even before COVID-19.
“The organization was kind of mismanaged,” Urso said. “It wasn’t really a fault of the program, the school didn’t really care about it so it was thrown together by the passionate professors that ran it. The people who ran it were great, but it was still makeshift.”
With the renowned jazz history of the surrounding area, Urso believes Quinnipiac is missing out on a big opportunity in not funding a music program.
“I’ve told many people at Quinnipiac that I think we’re missing out on music specifically,” Urso said. “What I’ve been told is, the reason why Quinnipiac doesn’t really care about music is because they think ‘why bother.’ Yale and UCONN’s programs are really good. They’re also competing with University of Hartford’s school of music. They don’t really see a point, but I still think they’re missing out. Through surveys I’ve found out that a lot of health science majors are interested because they’r e involved with music therapy and whatnot, so it doesn’t just apply to music majors or minors.”
Though these times are tough for many jazz performers, there is still hope for those who want to play or create content.
The Future
While New Haven has changed in many ways, it remains consistent in terms of welcoming musicians as if all they’re part of the same family. And that family is always looking to expand by attracting musicians from the region.
Because New Haven’s jazz history is so rich, some who have been around the scene for a while are skeptical of changes. But for those securing the future of New Haven, embracing these changes are key to success.
“It’s only changed for the better,” said Nick Di Maria, jazz trumpet player and founder of The New Haven Jazz Underground. “When I got out of college there seemed to be a very strong scene of more veteran older musicians, there weren’t a lot of younger ones. So I kind of had this niche that I could carve out myself. In that time period I wanted to build up a scene, so I created the New Haven Jazz Underground.”
Di Maria provides the platform and scheduling for the most consistent live jazz performances in greater New Haven, tasks he happily pursued for more than a year. Then, COVID-19 rolled in to distort everyday life.
“Until quarantine it was vibrant, I can’t stress that enough,” Di Maria said. “We used to have 5-6 series a week, one of those was our Tuesday night jam session Three Sheets (a New Haven bar and grill), and leading up to the pandemic it was standing room only. I’m very proud to say that through the organization’s efforts there were more opportunities for musicians to play, therefore there were more musicians of a diverse background and age group interacting in the greater New Haven area.”
Nick Di Maria – trumpet, Tom Kean – guitar, Andrew Kosiba – keyboard, Andrew Zwart – bass, Avery Collins – drums.
Di Maria isn’t alone in keeping jazz on New Haven’s cultural calendar, but he is driven by community access, highlighting his philosophy that jazz should be accessible to everyone.
“It’s a grassroots community based organization dedicated to producing concerts, clinics, and jam sessions,” Di Maria said. “What does that mean? I knew that if there was going to be a scene you had to invest in it from the inside out, and it took a lot of years to figure out the approach. There is a lot of jazz history in this area. If I could bring it all together under one umbrella it would provide opportunities for musicians to play, and it would grow from there.”
Jazz is about improvisation and jamming with other musicians, and The New Haven Underground provided the setting for those moments of musical magic. It also provided a path for new musicians to show their stuff to the more seasoned performers.
“Jamming is super important,” said Di Maria. “You could practice all you want at home but if you’re not interacting with people you’re never going to be able to hone those skills. Nowadays especially there are apps. When I’m practicing and I’m learning a tune I can find a backing track somewhere where I can practice the tune and it sounds like I am with a band. That will never substitute going to a session and interacting with live musicians.”
Despite COVID and other matters that society is dealing with, Di Maria still has hope for not only New Haven Jazz, but jazz players in general.
“You can’t deny the resilience of the human spirit,” Di Maria said. “People are adapting which is really nice. A lot of musicians have been doing what any other artist is doing, Zoom concerts. The Underground did just that. Starting in the summer we started having concerts at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art, and it’s just the sound guy, me and the band.”
Concert schedules and live streams are available through The New Haven Underground Facebook. Previous live streams and other content is available on their Instagram page and Youtube channel. There’s also usually a fundraiser involved. The Underground has raised money for Black Lives Matter New Haven, The Pride Center, and the Connecticut Food Bank. Donors can make contributions through NHJU’s Patreon.
Di Maria doesn’t do this for himself. He doesn’t even do it for the jazz musicians of New Haven. He does it for New Haven as a whole.
“It’s not that the city needs us. But we showed what we were doing for the city. We were bringing awareness to businesses, interacting with businesses. What makes New Haven culturally so beautiful is the fact that it has this village vibe to it. I know plenty of musicians who do not play jazz, but I’m aware of their bands. I will catch their bands. I’ve seen them catch my bands. We live in a city that seriously encompasses tons of styles. The Underground is just another part of that village vibe. It’s just another part with many other parts, that brings vibrancy, culture and community to the city. During the COVID era the big thing we can do is raise awareness for Corona, these bartenders, waitresses, waiters, club owners, they know who we are and we know who they are. The least we can do is get on Facebook and say ‘everyone order takeout this weekend, help these places out,’ so that when we get past this and go back to normal these places will still be here.”