Interview: Alina Bloomgarden's JUNETEENTH JAZZ JUBILLEE Is Changing Lives

Alina Bloomgarden is changing lives through song with Music on the Inside, a non-profit that connects youth and adults impacted by incarceration with professional musicians as teachers and mentors, to bring hope and healing through the transformative and life-changing power of music. Those currently incarcerated and in reentry are given lessons, with encouragement and counseling, to help them address trauma, avoid recidivism and re-enter their communities with increased confidence and hope.

They’re gearing up for a Juneteenth Jazz Jubilee Concert this Friday to benefit Music on the Inside. It will feature formerly incarcerated jazz artists and recipients of Music on the Inside (MOTI) music mentorships performing alongside Grammy-award winning musicians and other top artists. It will be a rousing musical celebration of harmony and hope in criminal justice to highlight emancipation through music and the continuing fight for criminal and social justice in the USA.

Artists at the concert will include Grammy award winners Catherine Russell and Paul Winter; Marion Cowings (jazz singer), Walter Blanding (saxophonist), the Oscar Feldman Ensemble, as well as formerly incarcerated musicians including Kenyatta Emmanuel Hughes (co-host and performer), Alfred Roberts, Dawud Rahman (with his MOTI mentor, flutist Barbara Siesel), Chontay Smith, (performing with his MOTI mentor Marion Cowings), the MOTI Guitar Group led by Todd Neufeld with Javier Perez, Steinley Figuiere, Siddique Mohammed, and Patrick Gordon.

We spoke with Bloomgarden about the origins of MOTI and how the organization supports formerly incarcerated individuals with the healing power of music.

You got the idea for the Music on the Inside project from learning that Louis Armstrong felt like he was rehabilitated by music in his childhood. What drew you to wanting to do something to help formerly incarcerated individuals?

When I learned how life-changing it was for Louis Armstrong to receive music lessons and mentorship when he was arrested and confined (at The Colored Waifs Home for Boys) as a youth, I wondered about prison programs and wanted to give justice-impacted individuals today what Louis Armstrong had.  Music is one of the most immediate ways to connect with our shared humanity and I believe all of society benefits when individuals released from prison get new role models and support as they face the steep challenges of reentry.

What has the response to this project been like so far?

We have been so gratified by the talents and appreciation expressed by those we are able to reach in our prisons and in reentry.  At the first note, all of our differences dissolve and we are just people making music together and that is so healing for those long muted behind bars. We're proud that some of our mentees will be featured with Grammy winners and other top musicians at the concert, receiving applause perhaps for the first time in their lives.

Aside from attending your June 15th show, how can we help support Music on the Inside? 

We greatly appreciate tax-deductible contributions of any amount to help pay the professional musicians who teach and mentor for us, and we also need donated instruments, especially guitars. We teach guitar, singing and songwriting in prison and our dedicated students continue in our one-on-one mentorships in reentry and they need to have their own guitars.  As one of our guitar teachers always says at his gigs: "If you have a guitar that's gathering dust, pick it up and play it or give it to us!" Contribute through our website (www.musicontheinside.org) or write to info [at] musicontheinside.org to donate instruments.

You have some real jazz luminaries performing at this show. What has the response been like from performers you reached out to?

MOTI is blessed by the many top artists who teach, mentor and perform in our concerts. Jazz artists and other musicians have tremendous empathy for those impacted by incarceration and want to help. Wynton Marsalis is MOTI's Artistic Advisor, Arturo O'Farrill is on our board, and I'm so grateful that my contacts and friends, as Founding producer of Jazz at Lincoln Center, share my dedication to this important work.

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Learn more about Music on the Inside and get tickets to their June 15th concert at their website.

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