A2 Jazz Fest

It looked bleak for the inaugural A2 Jazz Fest on Saturday morning, Septem­ber 10: it had rained overnight and the forecast was for more rain. Ann Arbor’s West Park was far from ideal for an outdoor event so Fest organizer Dave Sharp decided to move inside to the Ann Arbor Distilling Company. The Distilling Company proved to be not only dry (from rain) but quite ideal: a large listening area with decent acoustics and facilities like a bar (dispensing the local wet goods) and vendors of great hot dogs (EJ! Gourmet Street Cuisine) outside the building.

The schedule of performers was unchanged and included some of the best of jazz from Ann Arbor and the greater Detroit area. Sharp sounded confident that there will be a second A2 JazzFest next year. SEMJA was happy to be a sponsor of the first one.

TOP: Dave Sharp’s trio with Gaylynne McKinney on drums and guitarist Elden Kelly make their home in the Ann Arbor Distilling Company

 

Tim Haldeman Quartet with Nick Collins on drums and Charlie Sutherland on guitar. Ben Rolston on bass is partially hidden.

 

Drummer Jesse Kramer’s trio with Damon Womack on bass and Chris Kurzawa on guitar.