Special to the AFRO
From June 21-22 and July 20, Home Rule Records will host their second annual Home Rule Festival to highlight the history and future of gogo and jazz in Washington, D.C., at the Parks at Walter Reed.
The festival’s two-day opener will include an opening night ceremony at The Black Cat with Doug Carn and Vanessa Rubin on June 21. Friday night’s event is $40. The remainder of the festival is free.
Along with The New Doug Carn Sextet, Gary Bartz and Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids will serve as the headliners of the festival during their Saturday performances.
“I want to honor some jazz legends. I truly believe in giving respect and homage to folks while they’re alive. To get the opportunity to present them, listen to them, I’m just in awe,” said Charvis Campbell, founder of the Home Rule Festival and owner of Home Rule Records.
“The other piece is to really pay respect to D.C., to make sure we give honor and respect to the wonderful music that has come out of D.C., so that’s where the gogo comes in. Then there’s some younger cats who I think are just as deserving of the opportunity on the stage and doing great work. I’m excited to present this group.”
Campbell’s love for jazz began as a 16-year-old at Howard University, when he got to witness the state of jazz in a “post-Coltrane era.” Since then, his passions for jazz and Black music led him to opening Home Rule records on Kennedy Street in Northwest D.C.
“We’re about supporting local artists and giving them a chance to flourish and shine,” he said.
The goal of the Home Rule Festival is to create what Campbell calls a “casual education of the legends of the craft.” Campbell curates the festival to showcase the “unstoppable power of music and film,” and how those media preserve the history of Black music.
“Part of what we’re doing, intentionally, is to capture everything,” Campbell said. “Every chance we get, we’re going to be filming.”
Campbell, a New York native, says that the festival’s lineup is a homage to D.C.’s music scene as gogo bands are set to perform during the two-day event. The Home Rule Festival is a great opportunity to introduce new chapters in gogo and jazz, too.
Elijah Balbed, the leader of JoGo, got his first chops with Chuck Brown before he passed, Campbell shared. JoGo will be performing during the Black Cat opening show on Friday.
Campbell stressed the importance of jazz being a “root genre” for all Black American music genres.
“Jazz is alive and stronger than ever,” he said.
“Whether you listen to Cuban or Afro beats, hip-hop, it all comes back to the same ,” Campbell said. “It’s stronger than ever…so when I listen to these younger guys, I’m even more thrilled.”
Younger acts such as The Dupont Brass and the Soul of Seed, a high school band from the Seed Public Charter School in Southeast D.C., will grace the festival stage.
“DuPont Brass are relatively younger, but you know, they’re burning up the scene, they’re combining jazz with that funk vibe,” Campbell said. “Seed High School has a strong music program and their commitment to the kids…you can feel it walking into that building. They’re playing some great music and I can’t wait to give them this stage.”
Home Rule is a namesake commitment to amplifying the local talent throughout D.C. Keeping the Home Rule Festival’s main public events on June 22 and July 20 free became a focal point for Campbell. He wanted to ensure all of the city’s residents were granted an equitable opportunity to experience the local jazz scene.
“You don’t have to spend a lot of money to come and appreciate great music, you’re getting connected to community organizations, and it’s family-friend so the kids can be jumping and playing, trying to get on the stage — as much as I don’t want them to,” Campbell said.
In light of Home Rule Records’ local partnerships with the District’s art communities, the festival will feature the Rock Creek Conservancy as a vendor during Saturday’s festivities. This is the second year that Braha and the Rock Creek Conservancy will partner with Campbell and the festival. Jeanne Braha, executive director of the conversancy, said that since music is one of the great connectors of our world, outdoor festivals show the importance of having spaces to gather.
“Live music or live performance is unique because it happens once, and it creates this shared experience that does knit the social fabric of our community,” she said.
Braha says the conservancy will focus on promoting the Carter Barron Alliance, an organization committed to renovating the Carter Barron Amphitheatre. The amphitheater, which closed in 2017 due to the stage’s eroding structure, had been a popular green space to host festivals.
“Parks Services is trying to consider all the ways to be really appropriate for 21st century audiences and performers,” Braha said.
The Home Rule Festival grounds are located close to the 4,000-seat outdoor theater. “It includes performing artists, art leaders, preservationists, park supporters and historians,” Braha said. “We’re working to make sure that, as the park sorts out the future of the Carter Barron, everyone who wishes for it is kept in mind.”
In its second year, Campbell hopes that the festival will continue to grow and become a prominent way to celebrate Black Music Month in the nation’s capital. Community focused, the Home Rule Festival can be an accessible way to host world-class jazz acts in a supportive atmosphere, he said.
“We’ll clearly have some jazz legends, we have some D.C. greats, a few upstarts that are going to continue the show,” Campbell said. “I’m really excited.”
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