the arts
A Popular Festival’s
Foundation
Melissa Walker’s game-changing Jazz House is still rising in Montclair
WRITTEN BY JULIA MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANNE-MARIE CARUSO
W
hen Melissa
Walker
describes the
genesis of her
music initia-
tives — Jazz
House Kids, one of the nation’s
top arts education nonprofits; the
Montclair Jazz Festival, the biggest
in the state; and ChiCA Power, her
ground-breaking program to support
girls in jazz — the word “grassroots”
comes up a lot.
The term is apt. Not only have
her programs sprung up organically,
from local talent and with generous
community support, but the very first
Jazz Festival, which celebrates its
10th season this August, consisted of
a handful of kids from her fledgling
summer jazz camp playing for their
parents on Nishuane Park’s grassy
lawn.
It was 2009 and Walker, an
accomplished jazz singer with several
records to her name, was holding
workshops for kids at the Sharron
Miller Dance Academy. When they
needed more space, she and the kids
pushed a hand-truck loaded with
instruments down to the Salvation
Army.
Seeing a good weather forecast for
the final day of camp, Walker decid-
ed to take her students’ final concert
outside. She settled on Nishuane
because it was less crowded than the
town’s other parks and had a raised
area, creating a natural stage.
“We had no money even for a tent;
we brought our amps and played
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MAY 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
MELISSA WALKER