The Summer Solstice Jazz Festival has spurred a number of memories for festival attendees. Please share your festival story by emailing avanant@cityofeastlansing.com

Casey D. Schmidt
Holt High School

I went to the Summer Solstice jazz festival in 2007, unsure about what to expect, and only stuck around for one 2-hour performance. I hadn't ever really listened to jazz much before, and wasn't sure I much cared for it. But the act I saw in East Lansing really got me interested in the music, so much so that if s most all of what I listen to now.

The band was Hot Club of Detroit, and the music unlike anything I had ever heard. It was instrumental music, yet managed to retain exciting rhythmic and even lyrical qualities that surpassed, in my mind, a lot of the vocal music out there today, in any genre. I was so impressed with each member's virtuosity and creativity, and how they were able to interact with one another through the music, that it wasn't long after the show I found myself at Elderly instruments picking out a new guitar.

They played old Gypsy Jazz tunes, of course, but also some original pieces and their versions of Bossa Nova tunes. I had no idea of what any of this meant at the time, but I soon learned. Listening to just this one group exposed me to entire worlds of music; I may never have known about musicians like Django Reinhardt, Antonio Carlos Jobim, or Stephane Grappelli had I not heard them there.

Jazz's classification as a genre is really misleading, as there are so many diverse sub-genres that there is really something for everyone. The Summer Solstice Jazz Festival does a fine job of making sure many of them are well represented, too. You'll leave the festival with a new respect for music you wouldn't have experienced otherwise, and, if you're like me, maybe even a new hobby.