The third annual AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Jazz Fest is taking place this Saturday, May 18th running from 12-10 pm.
We spoke with the founder of Yardbird Productions, Peter Lin, about how this wonderful festival came to be and what we can expect to see on the day.
Peter has been a professional trombonist for over 14 years. He received his undergrad from William Patterson and attended Rutgers New Brunswick (Mason Gross School of Music), for jazz performance. Though born in Louisiana Baton Rouge, Peter grew up in Whippany, New Jersey before moving to Bloomfield. In 2019, he set up Yardbird Productions.
"I am the founder of Yardbird, formerly Entertainment, now Productions. We do audio-video live-stream productions throughout the area, especially for jazz organizations. We have been heavily involved with production at Clement's Place, the jazz club associated with the Rutgers Newark campus, and also the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies."
"A pianist named Victor Lin approached me initially about the idea of creating a space for other AAPI jazz musicians. I thought to myself, "Why don’t we have some kind of festival for AAPI?". I found the opportunity when I was talking with Wayne Winborne, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies - I was already working closely with him and brought up the idea of a kind of festival for AAPI artists. He thought it was a great idea and Wayne was also involved with other Asian activities and organizations in the past, making it an easy decision for him. There is also a student presence from the musicians at Rutgers themselves so it gives them a great experience.
To be honest, the idea of an AAPI festival has been in the works on the West Coast but also Chicago has had similar festivals of varying degrees and success. However, up til now, there has been nothing on the East Coast for something like this, making it extra special."
So what has been the biggest change from when you started?
"The biggest change from 3 years to now? Well, after the first year, which was tough, I didn’t know a lot of people who worked in these spaces nor did I have experience producing a festival outside of my own experiences. It has become much as time has gone on, but also meeting people over the years who have been interested in trying to help put it together has been incredibly beneficial. I didn’t know how many Asian artists there were in the area until they started showing up, they started to talk to me about being interested in performing. The numbers just kept growing and now my roster of musicians is 6 times as large as when it started. There are just so many musicians with great talent in the area. A lot have similar situations or even look like me, so to see them performing at such a high level has been amazing - representation matters."
What can people expect on Saturday?
"I would say be prepared to hear music that they are often familiar with. These musicians are performing at a very high level in classic jazz but there is also a wide variety of music from the 1920s to modern day, trade jazz to experimental synth - we have the whole gambit and wide variety. So definitely come with an open mind to experience great music but also the cultural background of each artist. There is one stage with 6 artists throughout the day but anyone from the community can join at the end of the day for the jam session. These musicians are people I have seen and who have been involved with the festival. I also have recommendations for various musicians that come in. This year is a combo of musicians and also featured Red Pavilion band act. The Red Pavilion is a key component of promoting jazz throughout the year so I wanted to feature that as well."
"I would also like to say that amid all the planning, promotions, and preparation - KEYED UP! and Jazz Generation are always a big supporter without fail so we are extremely happy about that and are very appreciative. I hope to see you this Saturday!"
Time: 12-10 pm
Address: Express Newark (Hahne & Co. Building) 54 Halsey St, Newark NJ 07192
Schedule:
12pm - 12:50pm
Akiko Tsuruga Quartet feat. Jerry Weldon
1:30pm - 2:20pm
Red Pavilion Jazz Band
3pm - 3:50pm
Kengchakaj – Yon Yæng
4:30pm - 5:20pm
JK Kim and Friends
6pm - 6:50pm
Linda May Han Oh feat. Fabian Almazan
7:30pm - 8:20pm
Catbus Collective
8:30pm - 9:30pm
Jam Session
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