Our STORY

The Selby Ave JazzFest began as a vision of Golden Thyme Coffee Cafe owner and Selby community activist Mychael Wright back in the early months of 2002.

“I didn’t have a grand opening celebration for Golden Thyme,” stated Mychael. “I also wanted to see how the community would react to a yearly music fest-type of event.”

“The first anniversary of 9/11 was coming up and you could just tell that people were feeling pretty somber,” he added. “I then thought to myself, ‘I’m tired of feeling this way. We need to celebrate the good things that are going on in this world…especially here on Selby.’ Nothing gets people together like a good old-fashioned block party, so we took it from there.”

The inaugural Selby Ave JazzFest took place on Milton Avenue between Dayton and Selby Avenues. A small, but enthusiastic crowd of 600 people enjoyed an afternoon of great local jazz, food…and a much-needed dose of community healing.

“The morning started out rainy and kind of cold. I looked at my wife Stephanie and wondered what the heck we were going to do if the weather stays this way,” recalled Mychael. “Around noon, the sky opened up and beautiful sunshine shown through.”

He then added, “It turned out to be a perfect fall day which was great because I think most folks were tired of feeling down about the events of the past year.”

Since that time, The Fest has become one of St. Paul’s signature events, drawing as many as 12,000 people.

In 2024, Mychael and his wife Stephanie retired from their JazzFest duties and asked Walker|West Executive Director Braxton Haulcy if the famed music school would be interested in supporting JazzFest in the future. if they could support the Selby Avenue JazzFest going forward.

“Taking JazzFest aligned with our strategic plan,” Haulcy said. “We want to be out there performing. We’re sending our kids and our teachers out through the community to perform on behalf of Walker West. There are two ways that people heal and benefit from music. It’s from learning it and listening to it. Those two things, those two anchors, are what’s going to be driving Walker West going forward. We’re going to put as much investment in performing as we do in education.”