Jazz is too often characterized as intellectualized music for highbrows. Many potential new listeners seem unaware of its history of being the People’s Music: During the 1930s-’40s swing era it was the Western world’s most popular musical style, and during the 1960s free jazz revolution and civil rights movement it was a loud voice for social change. But the Hudson Jazz Festival, which will return to Hudson Hall over two weekends, February 10-13 and 17-20, looks to remind audiences of jazz’s accessibility and its transformational power.
This year, the hall’s curator, Cat Henry (formerly the vice president of Concerts and Touring at Jazz at Lincoln Center), has assembled a lineup of top talent to appear at the festival under the theme “Lift Every Voice” (a titular tribute to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a classic song known as the “unofficial Black national anthem”).
Headlining are two Grammy nominees: gospel-soul-blues-jazz duo the Baylor Project (February 11) and singer Jazzmeia Horn (February 19). Also part of the festival is a screening of the 2009 documentary Let Freedom Sing: How Music Inspired the Civil Rights Movement, which will be preceded by a filmed performance of community members singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" led by singer-songwriter Anneice Cousin of local youth advocacy group Beautiful Racket and David Sytkowski. Cousin answered the questions below by email.
—Peter Aaron
What’s the story behind Beautiful Racket? What inspired you to start the organization, and what are its goals and activities?
Beautiful Racket was born in the summer of 2020 out of the need for accessible creative programming for the youth of Hudson. We believe accessibility means more than financial access. We are committed to eliminating barriers that have historically prevented Black and Brown people from accessing the power of self-expression, by creating a safe and empowering environment rooted in: representation in leadership and instruction; tuition-free programming for students; and competitive wages that honor the true skills of the instructors. I was encouraged to begin giving singing lessons a few years ago at a major transition moment in my life. About a year later, I was asked to create a creative/music program for the Hudson Youth Department’s summer program. Then the pandemic hit, and I saw an opportunity for this offering that was developing to also answer a real hole left by traditional music classes changing or being taken out of the daily school instruction. Children need creative outlets to learn how to constructively harness their energy. I realized that the people affected most by this loss are the ones who cannot afford to supplement it outside of school. So I raised the funding needed to cover my costs and found an accessible location on Warren Street and in fall 2020 we offered our very first program. On a large scale, I see this as an opportunity to model how reparations can be applied to address the effects of slavery and racism in this country and be a part of a major shift in our society. I look forward to the future of Beautiful Racket incorporating partnerships with research institutions studying and furthering reparations and reparative business models. This year we will offer a program for adults and continue to consider the many ways we can expand further. Currently we offer opportunities for first-time music experience, songwriting, piano lessons, music production, and performance.
What is your musical background? How would you describe your style as a singer-songwriter?
I have been a singer-songwriter my whole life! My parents are both musically inclined. I remember my mother always being in a church choir, and my father is a drummer. I sang in the musicals in school and in high school created my first group with my two best friends. We entered a song in the John Lennon Songwriting contest and placed as semifinalists, then entered our school talent show and won that. In college I linked with the Beat*Shot music crew, and throughout college and early adulthood I performed all around Albany. I’ve released two different solo projects and am in the final stages of a third. I would say my style is underground hip-hop/ R&B. I am inspired by current artists like Summer Walker, Jhene Aiko, Somaht, Yebba, Dixson, and H.E.R. and producers like Jaydot and Oddisee. I really love the return to real R&B and musicality. Legends who inspire me are Erykah Badu, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Angie Stone, Xscape, Chaka Khan, Roy Ayers, Nina Simone, Nancy Sinatra, and Janis Joplin.
For the festival, you’ll be leading a community sing before a screening of the documentary Let Freedom Sing. What will the program be like?
I’m very excited to be a part of [the festival]. I hope that the final production and arrangement, as well as the people we bring together, can be representative of the song we’ve chosen—“Lift Every Voice and Sing”—and that it showcases every style and every person, so that the listeners are left feeling the richness and importance of representation for everyone. I hope that people find at least one thing that resonates with them, and that they get to experience jazz on a level deeper than [just the] music. Hudson Hall has put together a festival that really honors the many ways one can experience jazz culture and history.