The impressive lineup began at noon with a series of performances from the swinging student ensembles, including the Bright Moments Big Band, Philly Soul Big Band, 52nd Street Big Band, Afro-Latin Jazz Big Band, Jazz House Vocal Large Ensemble, and The Big Solid Sax Mob! Toward mid-afternoon, student big bands, faculty ensembles and headliners began heating up the stage, beginning with Radam Schwartz + Organized, the Jazz House Faculty Collective, Jose James, the Dynasty Big Band, the Jazz House Big Band, and the Paquito D'Rivera Quintet, which brought a special guest ~ 9-year-old clarinetist Santiago! The night closed off with a big BANG... or, should we say, a big BAND: the Christian McBride Big Band, featuring the sultry vocals of Melissa Walker.
The town of Montclair was shaken up for the 6th year in a row as 5,000+ people from this town, surrounding cities, and neighboring states gathered for the Montclair Jazz Festival. This is an annual event produced by the nonprofit Jazz House Kids, in partnership with private and individual sponsors, government agencies, and community organizations.
For the first time, The Bravitas Group/ Silver Family Foundation, longtime supporters of Jazz House Kids, came on board as the Title Sponsor.
What's more, the 2015 Montclair Jazz Festival went GLOBAL thanks to a nine-hour live stream, made possible by our partners at Remote Digital Media (RDM)! For the first time ever, the live streaming allowed more than 2,500 jazz lovers across the US and throughout the world to tune into the Main Stage action. In a message through Facebook, a viewer in Germany says: "It was a wonderful, long evening for me. I really enjoyed it [and] you had a great idea to have a live stream! Thanks again, now I'm waiting for the 2016 Montclair Jazz Festival edition!"
Many are saying that this year's Montclair Jazz Festival was bigger and better than ever... And it's true! Returning to Nishuane Park, the Festival featured 25 food, beverage, and merchandise vendors, a 20% growth from last year. And even though the Festival has been known over the years for providing a safe and fun environment for families, Jazz House Kids has continued to expand on its safety and security measures through increased community partnerships across the board. For instance, the East Orange, Fairfield and North Caldwell Townships joined us this year to provide additional emergency lighting so Festival attendees could exit the park grounds safely after dark. The Montclair Police Department also upped its presence, while Glen Ridge volunteered to assist the Montclair Ambulance Unit in order to provide a cooling area for the public during the scorching summer day.
Lori Montague, Jazz House Kids Director of Operations and Head of Festival Production, said,"The Montclair Jazz Festival is such an amazing community event and, best of all, we get to have it in our home town. There's no other major event like this one, where the community comes out in full force for a full day of music. We've created an experience, an opportunity for families and friends to reunite."
