Monroeville Jazz Festival brings music, crafts, food and more to Tall Trees Amphitheater

The Monroeville Jazz Festival returned to Tall Trees Amphitheater earlier this month after being canceled in 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The 18th annual festival brought music, food, crafts and more to the lawn at Monroeville Community Park West on Sept. 4. A crowd that was expected to surpass the usual average of 2,800 attendees watched four acts in what Monroeville Foundation president Ernie Groover said was an overwhelming success.

“I don’t go to a lot of concerts, but I go to concerts. This is one of the best crowds around,” Groover said. “Little kids, you see around here, to grown adults. It’s a great, great, great crowd. Great music. People bring their lawn chairs. They sit back and they bring their own food, or they go to the food truck to get something to eat. It’s really, really a great, great time. It’s getting bigger and bigger every year.”

The Monroeville Foundation organizes the event each year. For future festivals, it hopes to attract national artists. That would likely depend on securing more corporate sponsorship, since the event is free to the public with a suggested donation of $5. Nonperishable food goods or toiletries are also accepted.

Dollar Bank, UPMC East, Forbes Hospital, Highmark and TribLive are some of the sponsors.

“We’ve got great local jazz musicians, but maybe we’ll be able to bring in some national artists,” Groover said. “That would really put us over the top. That’s a big expense. It’s a free event, so if we had the sponsorship, we could bring them in. … What I’m going to do is when I get back up there, I’m going to say, ‘If your company is willing to be a sponsor, reach out to us.’ We can’t do it without corporate sponsorship.”

The music began with Afro-American Music Institute taking the stage at 2 p.m. Tubby Daniels with vocalist Anita Levels followed before the John Shannon Trio with Thomas Wendt and Tony DePaolis. Pittsburgh All Stars Jazz Extravaganza then played until the event closed at 8 p.m.

Most audience members brought lawn chairs or blankets. To provide a safe environment, they were encouraged to keep at least 6 feet apart. Free mini bottles of hand sanitizer were distributed.

“To be able to be together again is wonderful,” event producer Debbie Iszauk said. “We went through extreme cautions and measures to make sure that we produced an event that was safe, not just for our audience, but for the community. We wrote a complete covid safety plan back in March. Of course, it had to be updated constantly.

“(This was) to support not just Monroeville, but to support the artists. They had a tough year too. To be able to come back and support these jazz artists is really important.”

Food trucks — serving barbecue, gyros, hot dogs, funnel cakes and more — dotted the outer edge of the park lawn. Craft beer and wine was also available. Tents selling craft items or holding raffles provided additional goods and entertainment.

State Rep. Brandon Markosek said he expects the event to gain more attention in the near future.

“I think this is just the beginning. I think this can grow even bigger,” said Markosek, who represents the 25th district. “Just given today’s turnout, I can see this event attracting groups from across the whole area, not just here in Pittsburgh but the entire southwestern part of the state. … This is an awesome event for our town. It’s a great day for all families of all ages.

“As you can tell by the crowd, it’s absolutely packed, which I’m glad to see. Everybody out having a great time. … This year, seeing people having a great time with their families, out and enjoying a great day here in town. We couldn’t ask for a better day.”