BY MADISON FREY I PHOTOS BY CHLOE WILLIAMS
How Tuesday night jazz continues Birmingham’s longtime jazz history
The room is full. Conversations fade the purple lights. Hours pass as the steady rhythm of the drum, keys, bass and guitar complement the trumpet, saxophone and trombone solos.
Between sets, Daniel José Carr stands up and walks towards the microphone. His slacks and dress shoes give him an air of elegance where he takes the stage at True Story Brewing Company.
After saying some words of introduction and welcome, he raises his trumpet to continue the night of jazz.
“Oh man, [jazz is] such a good feeling and I enjoy it. It just makes you feel so good,” said Carr, member of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and founder of Tuesday night jazz at True Story.
Musicians and music lovers alike have gathered every Tuesday night for four years to hear the swing and the sway of jazz. The jazz nights are a part of keeping alive the longtime jazz legacy of Birmingham.
In the preservation of the jazz, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame has been a key part of keeping jazz alive in Birmingham. With jazz cocktail hour every Thursday and classes offered to more than 30 students every Saturday, its members are not only preserving the history of jazz but its future.
“Our greatest mission is to keep the art form alive,” said Leah Tucker, director of operations at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. “That is why we do the classes. We want those students to take that legacy and pass it on too. To keep that art form going.”
Many students from the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame have gone on to become professional musicians, including a trombonist performing in London, a flutist who performed on stage with Lizzo at the Hollywood Bowl, and a drummer who is now in José Carr’s band, Timothy Huffman.
From teaching classes every week to allowing students to practice improvising with his band, Carr plays a pivotal role passing on the art form of jazz in Birmingham.
Carr began playing the trumpet in the fourth grade and has continued ever since. In his 20s, he began to perform and to take jazz more seriously. Carr started the Tuesday jazz nights with three friends who had played together since high school.
“My vision is to keep jazz alive. That’s all,” said Carr, as he looked around the room to heads nodding to the rhythm of the saxophone. “This is helpful. It’s very helpful.”
The jazz Carr wants to keep alive is the continuation of the roots of Alabama in jazz history. Becoming an official inductee in 2015, Carr joined the 245 other musicians and artists that have been inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.
“You can’t believe how many musicians came out of Alabama. They toured the world performing. Alabama has a really big jazz scene and we are still trying to keep that jazz scene going,” said Tucker.
The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame is home to many names that have impacted the world of jazz. Notable names include Ella Fitzgerald, Amos Gordon, Erskine Hawkins, Sammy Lowe, Dinah Washington, John Whatley and Haywood Henry.
“[Our mission is] preserving the stories of all the jazz people that pass through and keeping the induction ceremonies going so that other people can be proud of the legacy that Alabama has and the ties that Alabama has to jazz,” said Tucker.
Every Tuesday night the legacy of jazz is in action with the bebop of musicians playing along to the rhythmic improvisation of the music.
“José is the king of guiding his band and giving them all a chance to shine by their own improvisation,” Tucker said.
Ending the night, Carr came forward to the front of the stage. Behind him the drummer kept playing away as the keys followed suit.
“If it ain’t swinging,” Carr said, “it ain’t jazz.”