The Jazz Collective, a running series of free, weekly jazz concerts on the outskirts of downtown Toledo, is marking its one-year anniversary with a special show from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Toledo Club.
Jazz Collective creator Andre Wright, a local jazz drummer, said it’s a dual-purpose event. It also marks the end of this year’s National Jazz Appreciation Month, he said.
Jazz Appreciation Month was created by the Smithsonian Museum of American History in 2001 to celebrate the heritage and history of jazz.
“As a truly American art form, jazz's soulful and rich culture dates back to the 1890s. The roots of jazz can be found in the blues,” the National Jazz Appreciation Month website states.
“Growing out of the Deep South at the turn of the 20th Century and working its way up the Mississippi Delta, jazz-influenced musicians along the way. As it grew, it inspired more improvisation and, as a result, new methods formed and new styles of music, too. Music and jazz were developing and changing quickly. The impact of jazz on the country was profound.”
Mr. Wright said his mission has been to help raise the profile of jazz locally through the Jazz Collective, which has been held every Thursday night at the historic Peacock Cafe, 2007 Monroe St., since April 6, 2023.
“This event [on Sunday at the Toledo Club] marks the end of Jazz Appreciation Month and the first-year anniversary of the Jazz Collective series at the Peacock,” Mr. Wright said. “In recent times — especially since [the high-profile murder of former Minneapolis resident] George Floyd — we’ve seen Black culture being more celebrated. And definitely, along with that, has been jazz.”
Admission to the Toledo Club event is free, and it is open to the general public.
Snacks will be provided. A club spokesman said there will be a cash bar available, too.
Those performing at Sunday’s celebration include the Paul Keller Big Band; saxophonist Wendell Harrison; pianist Keigo Hirakawa; multi-instrumentalist Gene Parker, and two vocalists, Sunny Wilkinson and Barbara Ware.
The Jazz Collective has provided the historic Peacock Cafe with an anchor for entertainment.
The Peacock, which is down Monroe Street from the Toledo Museum of Art, goes back to 1937.
Local jazz singer Lori Lefevre Johnson, who performed for the Jazz Collective at the Peacock last May 11, said she looks forward to a return gig there soon. She said she will be at the Peacock with guitarist Chris Buzzelli.
“The Peacock has become a regular cozy spot to hear live jazz on Thursday nights carrying on the great, long-standing tradition of jazz in our city and region,” she said. “I look forward to the continued reverence for jazz in Toledo and expanding opportunities for hearing and performing jazz in our community. Thanks to the Jazz Collective for their work in promoting this wonderful American art form.”
Jazz Collective shows often include a generous spread of appetizers and other food to go with the performances. The idea is to help promote a feeling of community through jazz.
The Peacock Cafe has special meaning to Mr. Wright because he performed there at age 15. He got his start as a drummer at age 10 in the Pentecostal church known as the St. James Church of God in Christ in Toledo, according to a bio on his website.
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