Last Saturday was cool, crisp and windy in Herman Park, as the earthy tones of a tenor saxophone followed the trills of a piano during the second annual University City Jazz festival

The festival was a pleasant opportunity for people in the area to come and appreciate a truly American style of music. It included groups such as Tracer and St. Louis Metrobones.

The festival attracted more than 1500 spectators last year, thanks to the diligent efforts of Mike and Rob Silverman. This year, the Silverman brothers predicted twice that amount, and many people of all ages were able to attend.

According to Mike Silverman, the mission of the festival is “to bring free jazz to the community and educate the younger generations about traditional music.”

The festival has certainly revived traditional music in University City, where blues and jazz have a strong presence. In fact, St. Louis itself is known as the “Second City of Jazz”, New Orleans being the first. Rob Silverman says “jazz traveled up the river”, and it has proven true as many prominent jazz artists, such as Miles Davis and Chuck Berry, hail from St. Louis.

What really spawned the jazz movement, and what makes this style of music wildly popular even today, is what Diane Davenport terms the “freedom within the music.”

Davenport, who helped organize the festival, aptly describes how jazz “is characterized by harmony and improvisation where the actual melodic lines are not planned.”

Like many other art forms, jazz stresses the composition of the overall piece rather than the individual parts. A jazz piece comes together beautifully in the end and is more spontaneous than a traditional, structured piece of music.

One could definitely hear the harmonizing of various instruments in “Caribbean Nights” by Bob James. Jazz music is more free-flowing than other types of music; it’s almost as if they are playing with the instruments and stumble upon something wonderful overall.

The Silverman brothers had their own contribution to the festival, with “Bach to the Future.” Other artists included Dawn Weber and the Naked Rock Fight, a tribute to Miles Davis, and Trio Trés Bien.

The festival itself had many sponsors, including but not limited to St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU, Steinway and Sons, Vintage Vinyl, 88.1 KDHX, 88.7 WSIE the Jazz Station and Autumn Hill music productions.

The festival was a fantastic success that allowed people in the area to enjoy jazz, which is a quintessential characteristic of St. Louis.