Akron has a deep cultural heritage, rooted in Black musical traditions, that is often overshadowed by other, larger cities like New York, Chicago, and Detroit. In the early 20th century, as jazz and blues musicians began to flourish, Akron had a growing Black population as a result of the “great migration” of Black families escaping the Jim Crow South, moving north to find work in the city’s growing rubber industry. While the city remained deeply segregated, it also became known as a hub on the Midwest “jazz corridor,” or hub for some of the most revered jazz musicians of the 1930s to 1960s. Jazz clubs such as Silver Leaf, Rhythm Bar, and Green Turtle Hotel drew legendary artists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong among many others. While segregation remained the norm in Akron, across Ohio, and nationally, music was a conduit for integration. Howard Street, the center of Akron’s music scene (also known as “Little Harlem” at the time), had both white- and Black-managed jazz clubs that drew crowds of all races. This once vibrant cultural scene entered into decline coinciding with Akron’s deindustrialization, as the rubber factories closed, leaving many out of work.

Today, Open Tone Music is leading a cultural reawakening in Akron. Jazz pianist and Open Tone Music’s Artistic Director, Theron Brown, started the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival in 2016 with seed funding from the Knight Foundation, to celebrate Akron’s legacy as a jazz and blues hub and its rich cultural history. In its first year, we held the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival in two venues, reaching nearly 700 people. It has blossomed into a holistic cultural festival, reaching 4,000 people, that integrates jazz and blues performances as well as dance, performance art, digital art, and a celebration of Black musical traditions rooted in jazz and blues such as rap and hip hop, while remaining centered in the city’s deep musical and cultural traditions. Notably, in 2019, the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival was a host site for the premiere of Chris Cole’s 9 Lives Project, a multi-disciplinary installation memorializing the Charleston 9 – Black worshippers murdered at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston in 2015. Our festival was a safe space for conversations about pervasive white supremacy and violence against Black communities.

The 2023 Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival will once again push the boundaries of what was initially conceived as a showcase for professional musicians, offering intergenerational music programming that connects the youth and families Open Tone Music supports daily to the festival. While the Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival has engaged youth performers in the past, the 2023 festival will, for the first time in our history, have a stage that is intentionally dedicated to youth performances. Further, several of the featured artists this year (3-5) also serve as teaching musicians for Open Tone Music’s afterschool programming, offering youth additional opportunities to connect with the artists and see their teachers engaged as professionals in their craft.

The Rubber City Jazz and Blues Festival has historically been free so that anyone, regardless of their financial status, can attend. While the majority of the 2023 performances will likewise be free, we have built several paid, ticketed events to ensure the sustainability of the festival. We will offer a select number of free tickets to the students and families we engage to maintain accessibility to performances.