Boston Jazz Hero
As a teenager, Cambridge, Massachusetts native Carolyn “CJ” Kelley rebelled against the jazz her parents loved and became a diehard rock fan, until she realized that the music of Frank Zappa “wasn’t just rock.” A friend suggested that she join Boston’s Jazz Coalition, launching her career as one of the city’s most tireless and essential jazz heroes.
A grant-writer who became the Jazz Coalition’s lead person in securing matching funds, Kelly ultimately served as the organization’s director for 11 years. During her tenure she secured grants which produced George Russell’s “The African Game”; an Ornette Coleman work involving both Prime Time and his original quartet’ a David Murray with Strings concert, and compositions by the likes of Abdullah Ibrahim and James Newton.
Her approach to initiating ambitious creative projects was simple: “I ask musicians if they have any fantasies, and then we figure out how to achieve them. I was ready to quit after some bad experiences, until Steve Lacy told me, `CJ, it’s not the vessel, it’s the wine.’”
Kelley also loves animals, which led her to become a volunteer service manager at the Franklin Park Zoo and institute vto one of Boston’s most innovative jazz programs. “When I learned that the animals heard music but never saw it created, I started the Endangered Music Program which brought live music to the zoo and visible joy to the animals, plus changed the lives of the musicians and the zoo’s visitors,” she says.
More recently, she created Jazz All Ways, which brings the music to non-jazz venues, and helped launch JazzBoston Jams for the area’s musicians. Jazz Heroes such as CJ Kelley just keep on giving.
By Bob Blumenthal
