IonHartford

I’m officially off the “stop saying there’s nothing to do in Hartford” bandwagon. I think a case has been made on this and other blogs that if you don’t know that Hartford has many kick ass things happening, then you just aren’t looking. Tonight we had yet another example of this, Monday Night Jazz at Black Eyed Sally’s in Downtown Hartford. This relatively new, ongoing event was rockin tonight and looks like it has the staying power that many recent jazz “jams” (ei Kenny’s and the Comet) have lacked.

Since the closing of La Paloma Sabanera (sniff, sniff) and the end of jazz at the Mezzanine sponsored by Domingo Guerra, Hartford (and the whole Hartford area for that matter) has been deprived of a venue to listen and experience America’s classical music…Jazz. In steps the Hartford Jazz Society, an organization I’ve been pretty critical of in the past for their perceived tendency to perpetuate the fraud that jazz is an elitist genre. The HJS currently sponsors the Jazz Series at the Wadsworth Atheneum and will attempt to revive Monday Night Jazz at the Bushnell this summer now that Paul Brown has decided to stop producing the festival after over 30 years. They have been putting on the monday night jams at Black Eyed Sallys since the first week in February.

Tonight’s guest act were local legends Insight. This band has taken on many incarnations but still retains the same latin bop sound led by kick ass pianist Zaccai Curtis. With an average age of about 25, these guys have the chops to surprise you with technical mastery of a classic standard, but will totally blow you away with their own originals. Their sound is a fusion of bop, rumba, ska, funk, r&b, and blues all in one. It was not a surprise that some couples started dancing during one of their salsa-like hits.

The music was slammin’, the food was it’s usual cajuny yumminess, but the clincher was the crowd: brown, white, black, young, old, really old, poor, rich, kinda got so’en, we were all there. So much emphasis is put on the attracting to the “creative class” and I always hear that the only place you see “them” is at Real Art Ways…Bullocks!! (that’s right…bullocks!) This is was what we should have more of.

I’ll look to hi-light some other off night regular events as I try to juggle my current responsibilities of Mr. Mom and councilperson. Until the next time, hook a brotha up and eat some nachos. (yah…I never quite mastered my end game.)