Evelyn Dillon and Trevor Pitts perform at Parkville Market.
Evelyn Dillon
Parkville Market
Hartford
April 3, 2025
I’m going to be honest with you: I really didn’t want to work on Thursday night.
It was a gray and rainy evening, the kind where you want to curl up in bed and listen to the raindrops hit the window pane. But I heard that there was live music at Parkville Market, and it had been almost a year since my last visit. I got dressed and headed out.
By the time I arrived, the place was already bumping. I walked into the bar just as the performer, Evelyn Dillon, was singing one of my favorite songs: “Ascension,” by Maxwell. The bar was packed with people nodding their heads and singing along. I felt my mood begin to brighten.
The next song was another classic from my young adulthood, “Crazy,” by Gnarles Barkley. Dillon’s voice was crystal clear in the stage area. For my money, she performed the song better than CeeLo Green, the original performer who was more of a rapper than a singer.
It helped that she had a talented crew supporting her. Trevor Pitts was on the drums, his smile as iridescent as the lights overhead. On the center keyboard was his brother Jarreau Pitts, and in the far right corner with all of the soundboards and other equipment was Mike Childs.
Not only could Childs play his own instrument , but he was also no slouch on the microphone.
Jarreau was the showstealer. His fingers danced across the keyboard like he was tap dancing on the keys. By the time he finished his solo, I was out of my funk and glad that I’d left the house.
Another oldie but goodie, “Fool’s Paradise,” by Meli’sa Morgan, turned the concert into a party. The elders led the way there, taking turns cutting the rug while Dillon hit the notes like a pro.
After the song, someone approached the microphone and whispered into Dillon’s ear.
“We have a birthday here in the building!” she declared. I’d been so enraptured by the music that I hadn’t even noticed the banners and young woman wearing a tiara sitting across the aisle from me. (She was shy and asked not to be identified.) “It’s a celebration of life, so everyone stand up and let’s sing happy birthday!”
I joined in of course, and the birthday girl danced across the floor while we celebrated her. After the song ended, I heard two people talking right behind me.
“This has turned into a great evening,” one of them said.
“That’s what the arts and music do. They keep people connected,” the other responded.
It was a lesson that I took to heart, especially given my reluctance to come out in the first place. We may never see each other again, but for a couple of hours, everyone in the bar was connected to the other. The music accomplished that, because without it, we would all be staring into our phones, or in my case, be wrapped up under the covers. It might have been someone else’s birthday, but Evelyn, Trevor, Jarreau and Mike gave us all a wonderful present.
NEXT
Jamil has to see what’s happening in the city next week. Stay tuned!