I enjoy singing, even though I’m not great at it. But more than that, I enjoy the pleasant surprise of hearing a regular person blow me away with their musical talents. So I was really looking forward to visiting Parkville Market in Hartford for their weekly karaoke night.
Before I could join the fun on the second floor, I needed to eat. Parkville Market bills itself as the first food hall in Connecticut, and it has the selection to back up that claim. In one walkthrough the hall, I saw Brazilian, Italian, Jamaican, Japanese, Korean, BBQ and more. The variety was dizzying; I found myself unable to choose from all the delectable choices. I called my friend for advice, and she told me exactly what to do:
“Go to Mercado 27, it’s to the left of the entrance. Get the pollo saltado with extra green sauce on the side. You’ll thank me later.”
I did, in fact, thank her later.
Pollo saltado is a spin on lomo saltado, a traditional Peruvian dish that combines meat (in this case, chicken instead of steak), onions, tomatoes and french fries with rice. The juice, called chicha morada, is made from purple corn, combined with pineapple juice, cinnamon, lime and sugar. Both of them were delicious, and I devoured them.
The room was already packed when I arrived upstairs, so I found a table near the back. As I took out my notepad and pen, I heard a voice cut across the din of conversations and laughter. It was a masculine tenor, belting out “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green. I moved towards the front, as did several other people to see who was sangin’.
His name is Willie Mann, and he’s been coming to Parkville Market’s karaoke night for over 18 months. He likes it because of the good international food choices and because it’s a good place to come chill.
And, of course, because he likes to sing.
As I finished my questions, Willie told me that he’d recently gotten his hands on a old scrapbook he made, and asked if I wanted to see it. Sure, I said.
It turns out that Willie Mann just happened to be carrying around 50 years worth of Hartford’s musical history.
Willie had programs, ticket stubs and newspaper clippings from many of the major R&B concerts that passed through Connecticut during the 1970s. He’d seen Smokey Robinson at UConn; Al Green at Dillon Stadium; Teddy Pendergrass at the Civic Center; Earth, Wind and Fire; James Brown.
As he continued thumbing through the scrapbook, I finally learned that Willie had been a musician himself, all of his life.
He started with the Salvation Army band and choir at the age of 10, learning singing and the trumpet. By the time he was 13, he’d formed his first band, the Sound of Soul, with his high school friends. One of their biggest triumphs came when the Sound of Soul opened for New Birth, a popular funk and R&B group.
Today he serves on the committee for the Greater Hartford Jazz Festival.
The rest of the performers didn’t have Willie’s musical pedigree, but they made up for it with energy and fun. Another highlight of the night was the karaoke staple “No Scrubs” by TLC, which got the crowd moving.
The evening ended with a little bit of dance hall, courtesy of a gentleman performing Sean Paul.
It was a great time with great food, and a history lesson to boot.
Parkville Market is open daily, with karaoke beginning each Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
NEXT: Jamil goes back to his high school days and attends the 50 Cent concert on 08/11 at Xfinity Theater.
