HONK! As a Platform for Cultural Exchange and Fusion
By: Luis Valencia
Honk! Is a celebration of culture in every sense of the word. When you exit the T-Stop in Davis Square you emerge into a world where music permeates all boundaries and brings people together. A perfect example of this was the performance of the Young Fellaz Brass Band, a group of talented brass musicians from New Orleans. They come from a city that eats, breathes, and sleeps jazz of all kinds, and they truly embody the culture and spirit that surrounds the genre. Although jazz is not confined to any single race or city, its history is inextricably tied to the histories of both African Americans and New Orleans. Jazz and Second Line traditions are celebrations of the Young Fellaz' culture. The Young Fellaz Brass Band brings this culture to Somerville through their performance, but in doing so I did not observe a mixture of oil and water. As they performed, they became a part of Somerville by interacting with both people and environment to form a hybrid between two seemingly very different cultures. Bands like Young Fellaz that participate in HONK! inherit the culture of the festival space--Davis Square, Somerville--even when they come from very different backgrounds, in the process both becoming a part of, and permanently altering, the Somerville community.
The Young Fellaz' first performance at HONK! 2019 took place on the night of October 12th In Statue Park, Davis Square, surrounded by a crowd of eager onlookers. People of all ages and sizes congregated near a small area where the band set up to begin their performance. As soon as I joined the crowd, I realized that the demographics were typical to Somerville: mostly white and middle aged. HONK! has always found its home in Somerville, an area that has historically been much less diverse than the average city in the US, with a population made up of 70.6% white residents, 9.93% Hispanic residents, 9.56% Asian residents, and 6.04% African American residents, with the rest of the population identifying as two or more races, another race, or Native American. The median age of Somerville is 32 years old--relatively low--though the HONK! crowd seemed decidedly older. Combined, these factors made for a scene in which the performers and the audience demographics were visually, noticeably different. The Young Fellaz are a predominantly African American musical group, with only one member of the group that travelled to Somerville being white. They are also a youthful group, largely made up of high school students, college students, and young adults no older than 30, with one notable exception (who also happens to be the group's oldest tenured member). A big part of their allure is the fact that they are invested in creating a performative spectacle beyond the auditory aspects of their performances, incorporating choreographed and synchronized movements of their bodies and their instruments as seen in this video. They emphasize their youth and their liveliness.
The reality is that their energy, their color, and their music of choice sets them apart from both the crowd and the other bands at HONK!, and drew me to their performance over others. It was interesting to look at Statue Park and observe a crowd of white parents and their children dancing to jazz music played by a group of 20-something Black men. To reiterate: jazz isn't a significant force in the history or culture of Somerville; fewer African Americans live in the city than the national average, and it is an area that historically has dealt with issues of racism. After the first few minutes of listening to the Young Fellaz' performance at HONK!, however, I no longer felt I was listening to a group of people from New Orleans, or a group of Black musicians, or even a group of young talented people; rather I was observing a piece of Somerville in 2019 in action.
During their performance, the Young Fellaz became part of Somerville, and Somerville molded its identity to match these talented visitors. The key here is the interaction between the band and the crowd. The band brought great energy from the beginning to the very end and through to the encore of their performance, dancing and cheering to create an inclusive and approachable entry into the world of jazz. The crowd responded with clapping, dancing, and awe as the performers traded improvised solos and masterful interpretations of classic jazz band songs. Throughout the entire performance, the crowd and the band were moving together as one, and they filled the space not as separate groups with separate backgrounds, but as a single community. The sounds that resonated in the streets were of call and response initiated by the band and answered by the crowd with enthusiasm.
The best example I observed of the connection that was created between the band, the people, and the city of Somerville was when a member of the crowd literally became a member of the band: a little girl asked for the instrument of one of the Young Fellaz and proceeded to solo over the top of the song. This seemed to me to be the ultimate cultural crossover, and it was received with open arms and applause. Not only does it show that HONK! is a celebration of many different ideas, actions, and values from activism to music, but also that the people of the city are willing to create something new in this festival moment. Music and festivals break down barriers and allow their participants to immerse themselves in cultures that they may not be physically or emotionally attached to otherwise. It is important to note, however, that in the end issues of race, class, access still exist, as I quickly realized after the Young Fellaz performance when they asked for donations for music programs in their hometown of New Orleans.
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