Raise your jazz hands if you’re ready for some outdoor music.
On Sept. 10, Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz will host a Jazz Walk in Midtown Harrisburg, featuring musicians at various locations across the neighborhood.
The event will kick off a weekend of jazz, as Dauphin County’s Jazz & Wine Festival will run from Sept. 11 to 12 at Fort Hunter Park.
Organizers hope Jazz Walk will draw in visitors and locals who are coming to the festival. But they also want to create an accessible way for those who may not be big jazz fans to get a taste of the musical style, said Andy Herring, executive director of the friends of jazz.
“I think a lot of people like jazz,” he said. “They just don’t know it yet.”
Musical artists will perform at 13 locations in Midtown including restaurants, art galleries and venues.
Herring said that all the musicians are either local or have a local connection.
He described the event as “choose your own adventure,” since attendees can either jump around to visit many of the venues or choose one location and stay put.
Herring highlighted one of the performances, which will be at Good Brotha’s Book Café. There, one of Friends of Jazz’s oldest and youngest musicians will make music together. Ronnie Waters has been playing jazz since the 1950s, while Justin Bowden is a high-schooler who is part of the organization’s youth band. They will be accompanied by John Gingerich.
The word Herring used to describe Jazz Walk is “approachable.”
“You can come and go and try listening to a lot of different types of musicians,” he said. “You can kind of experience it on your own terms.”
Since many of the locations are at restaurants and other businesses, Herring encouraged attendees to support them, noting the negative impact COVID had.
Sponsors for Jazz Walk include Faulkner Subaru Harrisburg and Members 1st Federal Credit Union. The event is presented as a partnership with Dauphin County’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Herring encouraged people to keep an eye out for information coming about Friends of Jazz’s fall concerts.
Until then, jazz fans can get their fill of live music at Jazz Walk.
The locations for Jazz Walk are listed below:
Café 1500
1500 N. 6th St.
Jonathan Ragonese, Peter Paulsen and Chris Hanning
Crawdaddy’s
1500 N. 6th St.
Nancy Reed and Spencer Reed
Note Wine Bar
1530 N. 2nd St.
Katie Rudolph
Zeroday Brewing- Outpost at Midtown Cinema
250 Reily St.
Gavin Horning, Fred Griggs and Adrian Moring
Millworks
340 Verbeke St.
Steve Rudolph, Bill Perbetsky and Hassan Shakur
Susquehanna Art Museum
1401 N. 3rd St.
tgDivergence (Tom and Greg Strohman)
Good Brotha’s Book Café
1419 N. 3rd St.
Ronnie Waters, John Gingerich and Justin Bowden
Vivi on Verbeke
258 Verbeke St.
Andy Roberts and Nicole Roberts
La Cultura
214 Verbeke St.
Emmanuel Nsingani, Andy Alonso and Logan Bedard
H*MAC
1110 N. 3rd St.
Kirk Reese and Kevin MacConnell
Startup Harrisburg
922 N. 3rd St.
Brian Magg Duo
TheBurg
920 N. 3rd St.
Mark Hunsberger, Scott Edmunds and Nathan Pence
Sturges Speakeasy
400 Forster St.
Musician TBD
Jazz Walk will be held on Sept. 10 from 6 to 9 p.m. For more information about the Central Pennsylvania Friends of Jazz, visit their website.
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