Lisa Reisman photo
Co-organizers Fred Christmas and Doreen Abubakar.
David Davis performing Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good"
On a sun-splashed afternoon in the heart of Newhallville, Pat Solomon took in the heady aroma of grilled meat, and the croon of David Davis’ saxophone. There were people calling out to each other and butterflies fluttering and birds twittering and little kids racing about on the newly mown grass. A water fountain gurgled.
“I came out here to enjoy the weather, the music, and the fact that there’s a jazz event in the middle of my neighborhood on a weekend afternoon,” said Solomon as she relaxed at a table during the First Annual Smooth Jazz in the Park at the Newhallville Learning Corridor.
The mission, according to event co-organizer and ubiquitous community activist Fred Christmas, was simple. “Relax, connect, forget your troubles, and let the jazz move you,” he said on Saturday, as William McCoy, a member of the Mudhole Social Club, flipped a burger from his post at the grill on Hazel Street. “Listen to the music, have something to eat, do whatever you want to do, this is about enjoying our park.”
Doreen Abubakar — who helped lead the transformation of the Mudhole, a formerly blighted area along what is now the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, into the thriving neighborhood park — agreed. With the Q House almost two miles away, “we created this community hub as a place where people can engage with each other,” she said.
Known as C‑PEN, or Community Placemaking Engagement Network, the so-called Newhallville Learning Corridor includes a book box and bike box with free bike repairs, as well as pollinator gardens, a community gardening space, and a fishing area, with a bird observation zone in the works.
Ann Provit, Sam Davis, and William McCoy of the Mudhole Social Club, reputedly the oldest in New Haven.
As part of an ongoing effort to bring in more people, this particular event had her and her team partnering with the Mudhole Social Club, most of whom are retirees, as a way to reach seniors. Through the asset mapping by C‑PEN, she said, Newhallville is the most densely populated neighborhood in New Haven, and seniors, which she defined as over 60, make up a third of that population. “We want to give them the information they need to get through the winter, and this is a way to connect with them and start a relationship with them,” she said.
Over at her table, Solomon was wondering at the transformation. “To see the revitalization is to me something phenomenal,” she said, swaying to Davis’ rendition of Chuck Mangione’s “Feels So Good” in the gentle breeze.
When the city started working on the Farmington Canal trail in Newhallville, “there were concerns about lighting and safety, and that’s when the change started taking place,” she said. “We were able to build on that, and now we’re able to enjoy a jazz event without having to go to the Green or to Goffe Street Park.”
Nina Silver, whose family has been in Newhallville for generations, sounded a similar refrain. “This is wonderful, to see everybody out making the most of this beautiful day,” she said. Silver runs the ALM sports camp out of Immanuel Baptist Church that includes before- and after-school care as well as days off. “Doreen will come over and read to my kids,” she said.
Back at Solomon’s table, saxophonist David Davis ambled over during a break. Davis, a West Haven native and celebrated jazz artist who’s performed with Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, and Brian McKnight, among others, said Christmas approached him last month. “I do a lot of big events, but I always try to be available for community ones like this,” he said. “Music to me is entertainment but there’s also a therapeutic part of it that can really affect people.”
Lillie Chambers, seated beside Solomon, nodded. “His music is music for the soul,” she said. “It just transports you to a different place.”
Neighborhood activist Fred Christmas coaching his granddaughter in the park.
From the other side of the park, there was a squeal. It was the granddaughter of Fred Christmas, who was doing wind sprints under his close coaching eye.
“This girl is going to be a star,” Christmas proclaimed as he made his back to Solomon’s table, adding that the Smooth Jazz in the Park would recur each September.
“That’s great,” Solomon replied. “And important.” She noted the Farmington Canal Trail is part of the Connecticut Freedom Trail, the statewide historic trail that marks sites that bear witness to milestones in the fight of African Americans for freedom and social equality.
“African Americans that were enslaved went through New Haven up to Hartford and Springfield and then up to Canada, that was the route,” she said, as she regarded the festivities around her amid Davis’ smooth stylings. “All of this is about history taking a positive turn.”
“And just plain enjoying ourselves with our families,” Christmas rejoined with a broad smile.