The Sara Hanahan Quintet opened up the finale concert of the Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series of 2018. Recorded August 13 from the WWUH radio simulcast on a rainy evening. Harvey Jassem and Ken Laster provide the on-air commentary and post concert interview. Sarah Hanahan Quintet: Sarah Hanahan - Alto Sax Nat Reeves - [...]
by Ken Laster photos by Maurice D. Robertson Make no mistake, there were clouds (and heavy rain) the evening of the 2018 Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz (PBMNJ) finale concert. But as I learned as a child, for every cloud there is a silver lining. That "Silver Lining" prevailed the evening of August 13 in [...]
by Ken Laster Complete photo gallery here. Friday at International Tennis Hall of Fame This is the first year I attended the special gala event at the historic International Tennis Hall of Fame; the original site of the Newport Jazz Festival starting in 1954. This affair is part Jazz concert and part "high society" event. [...]
by Ken Laster - WWUH I had the opportunity to speak with pianist Helen Sung following her set at the Newport Jazz Festival. We spoke about her performance (a Tap/Piano duet), her classical influences and an upcoming performance at Hartford Jazz Society's Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series. All this in less than 3 1/2 [...]
Monday July 9 was the opening night for the Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series. You could not ask for a more perfect evening. It was a gorgeous summer evening in beautiful Bushnell Park. The crowd was large and attentive throughout the nearly 4 hour night of music. As is the tradition, friends and families [...]
by Ken Laster During this year’s holiday season I decided to set up my turntable which had been purchased during my college years back in the 70s. Sometime after the advent of CDs in the 80s my records and turntable had been relegated to storage in my basement. On rare occasions I would peruse through [...]
The complete photo gallery from Newport Jazz Festival 2017 can be found at this link. The Newport Jazz Festival is perhaps the most respected and historic jazz gathering in the US today. Now in its sixty third year, this iconic festival has featured many of the greats that make up the legacy of this art [...]
In an editorial in the Hartford Courant on July 14, 2017, an unnamed reporter questioned our city's motto: "Hartford Has It". It's a motto that poses the question "Has What?" It brings to light that Hartford is a city that is searching for it's identity. The article goes on to point out our popular jazz [...]
Welcome to the Hartford Jazz Society Blog. Members of the Hartford Jazz Society are invited to contribute to this website through our blog. We are looking for articles about jazz music, history and art. Of particular interest are local concert and album reviews and articles about local jazz musicians from the Greater Hartford area. If you [...]