The Pinelands Jazz Festival was established for fundraising purposes after music education was cut from the Medford school district curriculum in 2009. Although in 2014 the program was able to be returned to the district, the festival continues to take place and will be held for the third consecutive year on Sunday, Sept. 18 to help further expand the program to other children in need of musical financial support while showcasing 40 top-notch musicians.
“The Pinelands Jazz Festival came about organically as [members of the community jazz band at Shawnee High School] continued to look for additional opportunities to play locally,” Pinelands Jazz Festival Organizer David Bermingham said. “The first festival came together in just a few months. It was such a success that we decided to make it an annual event.”
It was at various school board meetings and then later in during the summer of 2010 while playing in the community jazz band that the founding members of the festival — Bermingham, Link Hansen and Dale Storer — started playing music together as “M-Town Jazz Jam” at first, and soon after organized the non-profit South Jersey Music Education Partnership to help fill the music education gap and to ensure kids were given a chance to take music lessons and have performance opportunities.
Together, parents and other interested parties now help SJMEP, a 501c3 100 percent volunteer nonprofit organization, to provide scholarships for small group music lessons during summer vacation.
“I think by seeing the impact that SJMEP is having on so many young people’s lives that attendees of the festival will gain a great appreciation for what SJMEP stands for,” Bermingham said. “We have awarded over 200 scholarships over the past four years and hope to be able to offer at least 200 more next summer.”
The Medford Township Public Schools were able to reestablish the fifth-grade band within the school system in 2014, and the following year the fourth-grade band was brought back as well — completing the music program’s restoration. Since the Medford music program has once again been made whole, this past year’s scholarship program was offered to all elementary and middle school students in Camden and Burlington counties.
All proceeds from the event will go to support music education through the scholarship program and other activities such as master classes.
“I know it sounds like a cliche, but it actually came out of a dream. I was planning a small M-Town Jazz Jam concert three years ago at the Dr. Still historical site in Medford,” Bermingham said. “That night, I had a dream that I organized a jazz festival. When I talked to the other organizers, they all said ‘let’s do it.’ So that is how it started.”
With the goal being to have a fun-filled weekend of jazz music, the festivities will begin on Friday, Sept. 16 with the Hot Club of Philadelphia performing in the Colonial Room at Braddock’s Tavern from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Then, on Saturday at the Pinelands Jazz Festival Stage at A Taste of Medford & Oktoberfest, the M-Town Jazz Jam will play from noon to 2 p.m. and then Michelle Lordi will play from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
On Sunday, bands will change hourly and are scheduled to play from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the YMCA Camp Ockanickon on Stokes Road. Starting off Sunday’s musical afternoon, the M-Town Jazz Jam will go on first at 2 p.m., followed by the Brian Betz Quartet Featuring Denis DiBlasio at 3 p.m., the Paula Johns Quartet at 4 p.m., the Eric Mintel Quartet at 5 p.m., the Michelle Lordi Quartet featuring Larry McKenna at 6 p.m. and Breckerville at 7 p.m.
Helping make this event possible, the festival relies on the support of students, volunteers and local parents. Students who have benefitted from the program in the past and others will further assist this year by showing off their musical abilities during the 15-minute intermission between bands.
“This year, we are doing something different. Rather than having a student jazz band play all the breaks, we are taking this time to allow our scholarship students to play their very first recital. We hope that their friends and family will come out to hear the students and wind up staying to hear the rest of the awesome music happening that day. We also want the attendees to see exactly what their support means,” Bermingham said.
The Pinelands Jazz Festival hopes old and young members of the community alike will come out to hear some of the best jazz musicians in the area and will help meet the fundraising goals of SJMEP.
The entire YMCA Camp Ockanickon property will be open so that hiking, biking and fishing will also be available. Craft vendors will be on site, but due to a policy of the location, no food vendors will be allowed. The event recommends that attendees pack a picnic lunch or plan to hit some of the local restaurants before or after the festival.
