This weekend, East Lansing swung, grooved and shook to the smooth sounds of the Summer Solstice Jazz Festival.
Amid the orange backdrop of a summer sun, a multitude of good-sized crowds rotated in and out of the festival's intimate setting. Some sank into the music as they settled under the stage's tent seating while others clutched Slurpees and flashed curious glances during midday shopping walks.
While still relatively small in turnout for a free jazz festival, the attentive crowds nodded to straight-ahead and big band jazz acts from Neil Gordon and the Jazz Groove to the Big Band Machine, vibed to jazz vocalists like the Sunny Wilkinson Quartet and danced to the pulsating beats of jazz dance bands like Ritmo.
In a celebration of the essence of jazz music, downtown East Lansing's pulse pumped for two days as jazz fans were given a concert and the community was given a soundtrack.
"People tend to come from all directions," said festival coordinator Ami Van Antwerp. "We estimate that over the course of the evening we have 4,000- 5,000 people, but not at any one time. The ones that are there very early don't tend to be the ones that are there very late."
In the 10th chapter of the ever-growing story of the festival, the East Lansing Arts Commission not only intended to bring jazz to the people, but to serve as a catalyst for the college town's development.
"We wanted to bring something to the downtown area," Van Antwerp said. "We want restaurants and retailers to see an increase in foot traffic, an increase in business and also just to add an extra ambiance and energy to the downtown as well."
As nightfall ushered in a cooler touch and a more centralized feel, larger crowds were drawn into the exciting allure of the festival's featured dance bands. Richard Fanning of the Big Band Machine described the scene as his band closed out the weekend's events.
"I thought it was a great crowd," Fanning said. "There was a lot of energy, and the people packed in as far as I could see. There were quite a few people dancing. The group and I really enjoyed it and would love to do it again."
For the first time this year, the jazz festival expanded to two nights in its ongoing pursuit to transform into a larger venue. As a success, the people behind the music will look to add even more to future versions.
Al Cafagna, committee member and father to the event, expressed future plans for the festival.
"We hope next year to actually produce it jointly with the Wharton Center," Cafagna said. "We may hold it partly in the Wharton Center and partly in the Valley Court field where they hold the Folk Festival, where we can get a bigger audience. So that's our plan for the future right now."
The jazz festival serves as a kickoff for a series of summer concerts spanning eight weekends on Friday and Saturday nights.
Like the jazz festival, this collection of concerts aims at adding to the ambience of the downtown area, Antwerp said. The concerts will feature multiple genres and numerous styles of music.
