All This Jazz: When Residents Ask for Arts, We Build the Stage

Jazz has been part of Paterson’s rhythm for more than a century, shaped by Black history and sustained through everyday community life — a living tradition that continues to take new forms today, including NJCDC’s newly launched All This Jazz concert series.

That tradition took root in the early 20th century, carried north by Black families who came to Paterson during the Great Migration, drawn by industrial jobs and the promise of opportunity. Along with their labor and traditions came blues, spirituals, swing, and the early foundations of jazz — music shaped by movement, resilience, and collective expression.

In Paterson, the music became part of everyday community life — taking root in homes, social halls, churches, and neighborhood gathering spaces, and embedding itself in the city’s daily rhythms. That pattern of shared space and participation has defined the city’s relationship to jazz ever since.

As the city changed, the music remained present. By the mid-20th century, Paterson had developed a decentralized but active jazz scene, with musicians performing in small lounges, churches, social halls, and informal venues across the city. These were working spaces for working musicians, connected to a broader North Jersey circuit that included Newark, Harlem, and the Bronx. From this environment emerged generations of Paterson-based musicians, some of whom — like bassist Rufus Reid — would go on to national and international careers.

This history is inseparable from Black history — from the Great Migration that brought new rhythms north, to the musicians who built local scenes with limited resources but lasting impact. During Black History Month, that legacy offers not just something to remember, but something to continue building. It reflects how cultural traditions are sustained locally — through people, places, and repeated participation.

That understanding continues to shape how NJCDC approaches its work today.

Arts and culture are not treated as extras or amenities, but as essential infrastructure — a way communities gather, express identity, and build shared pride. This belief is reflected in NJCDC’s Great Falls Neighborhood 10-Year Plan, published in 2023 following an 18-month, resident-led planning process that brought together voices from one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New Jersey.

Among the plan’s six core goals is “Vibrant Arts, Culture, and Recreation,” with a clear strategy to elevate the arts as a driver of neighborhood connection and revitalization. Residents called for a more visible and connected arts ecosystem — one built through regular events, shared spaces, and meaningful opportunities for working artists. They envisioned a neighborhood enriched by performances and cultural programming that bring people together, build pride, and create moments of shared experience across cultures and generations.

That vision was intended to take shape through real experiences in the neighborhood — an approach that continues today through NJCDC’s newly launched concert series.

This month, NJCDC is proud to launch All This Jazz, a free jazz concert series on the fourth Friday of each month at NJCDC’s Rogers Music Hall, presented in partnership with Prototype 237, a Paterson-based community arts center and creative hub. Designed as a welcoming, high-quality showcase, the series highlights a wide range of jazz styles — from traditional ensembles to jazz fusion, folk-jazz, and high-energy sax-led jazz — performed by top musicians from across New Jersey, including artists affiliated with William Paterson University’s highly regarded jazz program.

Each evening extends beyond the stage. Food vendors and artisan vendors are part of the experience, and musicians are invited to join a jam session at the end of the night — reinforcing the idea that jazz, at its core, is participatory.

Admission is free to ensure broad community access.

In this way, All This Jazz is not only a concert series. It is a direct response to what residents asked for: an investment in shared cultural life, and a step toward the kind of arts ecosystem envisioned in the Great Falls Neighborhood 10-Year Plan.

It also represents a longer-term vision.

NJCDC is leading a transformative, multi-year effort to adapt Paterson’s historic First Presbyterian Church into the Great Falls Arts Center — the city’s first dedicated performing arts center, with a core focus on youth development, creative expression, and community access. When complete, the Arts Center will provide professional-quality performance spaces, arts education studios, makerspaces, and opportunities for young people to learn, create, rehearse, and perform, while also serving as a welcoming venue for community programming and cultural events.

But cultural institutions do not succeed simply by opening their doors.

They succeed when audiences are built, artists are supported, and participation becomes routine rather than occasional. All This Jazz lays that groundwork now — activating performance spaces, nurturing talent, and strengthening Paterson’s cultural ecosystem in advance of this major new neighborhood asset.

Jazz in Paterson has always been about more than music. It has been a form of expression, resilience, and connection — shaped by Black history, migration, labor, and creativity, and sustained by community.

With All This Jazz, NJCDC carriers that tradition forward — responding to resident voices, honoring cultural legacy, and building the stage Paterson asked for.

Look out for more details very soon, with the first installment in the concert series coming February 27!

Further Reading

A deeper look at this history appears below for those who are interested in exploring further

Roots in Migration and Everyday Life

Paterson’s jazz history begins in the early 20th century, shaped by the Great Migration of Black families from the southern United States. Drawn by industrial work in the city’s mills and factories, these residents brought with them musical traditions rooted in blues, spirituals, and early jazz. In Paterson, those traditions adapted to new surroundings, blending with the rhythms of industrial life and dense urban neighborhoods.

Rather than centering on formal concert halls, jazz in Paterson grew through informal and accessible spaces — homes, churches, social clubs, fraternal organizations, and neighborhood bars. Music functioned as both expression and gathering point, woven into social life rather than set apart from it.

A Dispersed but Durable Scene

By the mid-20th century, Paterson supported a dispersed jazz scene that reflected the city itself. Musicians performed throughout the city in small venues, often balancing day jobs with night performances. Paterson was also part of a broader North Jersey and New York regional circuit, with musicians moving between Paterson, Newark, Harlem, and the Bronx.

Because much of this activity took place outside major institutions, it was rarely documented in formal archives. Its continuity depended instead on repetition — musicians playing regularly, audiences returning, and spaces remaining open to the music. This decentralized model proved resilient, even as venues changed or disappeared.

Musicians Shaped in Paterson

From this environment emerged generations of Paterson-based musicians whose early development was shaped locally before extending outward.

Among the most widely recognized is Rufus Reid, who grew up in Paterson and began his musical training in the city. Reid went on to become one of the most respected bassists of his generation, performing and recording with artists such as Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Thad Jones, and Joe Henderson. His career reflects a broader pattern common to Paterson musicians: foundational experience gained through local performance, followed by professional work on regional, national, and international stages.

Beyond individual names, Paterson has long been home to working musicians, bandleaders, educators, and church musicians who sustained jazz as a living practice. Many contributed quietly, teaching younger players, leading ensembles, and keeping the music present in community spaces even during periods when jazz received less mainstream attention.

Late 20th Century Visibility and Beyond

In the 1990s, Paterson’s jazz history gained renewed visibility with the opening of Silk City Jazz Club, which hosted nationally recognized artists and drew audiences from across the region. While the venue eventually closed, it reaffirmed Paterson’s place within the broader jazz landscape and highlighted the city’s longstanding relationship with the music.

Today, jazz in Paterson continues in a similarly decentralized form — through educators, community arts spaces, pop-up performances, and artist-led initiatives. Rather than relying on a single institution, the music persists through access, participation, and shared space.

That history continues wherever space is made for musicians, audiences, and shared experience.

For further information, readers are encouraged to view Terence Ripmaster’s 1996 documentary “Jazz in Paterson”