Big Easy, Music City Bring New Sound to SummerWind (Video, Photos)

On the American music landscape, jazz and bluegrass are often identified as traditional roots music; however, the two genres, commonly perceived to be polar opposites on the musical spectrum, are rarely, if ever, talked about in the same sentence or enjoyed by the same groups of people.

The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band defied common perception Saturday night at SummerWind Performing Arts Center (Windsor, CT), performing a set that fused the two uniquely-American sounds together.

With half the stage brass- and woodwind-heavy from the New Orleans contingent and the other packed with strings that ranged in size from a fiddle to an upright bass, Del McCoury and Preservation Hall produced a sound that was both traditional and new. It was also easily received by those in attendance due to the commonalities between the two genres.

"This is quiet a delightful surprise," said State Representative Kelvin Roldan (D-Hartford) who was in attendance Friday.

"It was great to hear bluegrass with the big sound of New Orleans jazz — absolutely amazing," added Roldan, who grew up playing jazz as a saxophonist at the Hartford Conservatory. "This is a big treat for me."

The sound was "unexpected," said Damon and Mary Mastrioni who traveled to SummerWind from Newington, but described it as "fantastic."

"The roots are the same, so it makes sense,"said Mary Mastrioni.

Both Ben Jaffe, Creative Director of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Del McCoury were drawn to eachother's music because of those roots Mastioni identified.

"I thought 'These guys probably wrote these tunes,'" said McCoury of popular banjo songs he heard when learning to play. "Come to find out, they were jazz tunes... When [the banjo players] were young, they heard trumpet players play [jazz songs], but when they got old enough, they just learned to play those same songs on their own instrument, like the banjo.

"Later in life I came to realize that all things are connected. In the beginning I thought, 'This bluegrass is the only music for me,'" he added.

"It seems like an odd collaboration to some," noted Jaffe, "but I didn't even think about that. I was more concerned with what key we were going to play in. To me, it sounded great before we even played a note."

However well crafted their sound is, playing the music is part of a calling, Jaffe explained.

"I think it's important that the bands that have been around for as long as we have that are carrying on a legacy, we have a responsibility to not only honor our past, and protect it for the future, but we also have a responsibility to leave our own imprint on it, the way that musicians have for centuries," he said.

The Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band recently cemented their imprint on music, recording a full-length LP titled American Legacies.

SummerWind will host Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones on Fri., Aug. 26, and then A Night on Broadway with the Hartford Pops on Fri., Aug. 27.

Tickets for both shows can be purchased through the SummerWind website.