It has pushed the boundaries of music to new levels and has transformed its fans into more of interpreters of the music than just mere listeners.

Today, jazz has taken on a much different appeal to audiences from when it was first introduced to the American music scene - an appeal that could be seen at this year’s Freihofer’s Jazz Festival that took place last weekend at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) over the course of two days.

Although I am far from a jazz enthusiast, I am a fan of the music, especially its propensity to provide the listener with loose musical structures and large doses of improvisation - a facet that might scare a more timid music fan away.

I arrived at the festival on Saturday to the free flowing sounds of jazz permeating from the scenic venue. A sea of tents, tarps and pop-ups consume the venue’s lawn turning the center’s grounds into a virtual make-shift village.

People of all ages, races and creeds make up the faces of passers by as I quickly push my way through the crowd and over to the Gazebo Stage tuning my ear to the music. On stage sits 19-year old jazz pianist and composer Jonathan Batiste and his trio performing songs that epitomize the New Orleans sound - the birthplace of jazz.

The music is fresh and exciting, but there is a whole lot more to explore and only so much time to experience everything the festival has to offer.

Dark clouds start to fill the sky above, so I dip into a large circus tent filled with various high-end vendors. The structure is consumed with people mingling around and enjoying the goods that are as much art as they are products. Beautifully crafted jewelry, fine paintings, premium food items and traditional African clothing make up much of the goods being sold inside.

I mingle around checking out all that the tent has to offer eventually exiting the structure and heading back out under the dark sky, which still had yet to yield any raindrops. I am quickly drawn to the soulful sounds of a male jazz singer’s voice as it echoes from the amphitheater below.

I make my way down to the main stage where people are dancing, eating, drinking, conversing and enjoying their family and friends. The performer on the stage is Ryan Shaw and he is singing a spirited rendition of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” The clouds above start to spew rain drops and people rush to secure their tents and tarps to avoid the rain all while I scurry down to the amphitheater in order to take shelter from the storm.

Crowds of festival goers consume the sheltered area, while the rain continues to pour down from above. Even with the rain thickening and the thunder rumbling all around, spirits are still high under the shade of the amphitheaters roof. People converse, dance and laugh while Shaw continues his high energy act below-performing songs by an array of artists including Otis Redding and John Legend.

I strike up a conversation with a couple next to me figuring this was my best chance to get inside the mind of a jazz fan and hopefully receive some insight into what draws people to the festival.

I only know them as Rich and Shelia, but I quickly find out that they have been attending the festival for more than 20 years.

“It is truly one of the diamonds in the rough when it comes to jazz festivals,” Rich said. “It might not be as well-known as some of the other festivals across the country, but it features some truly terrific jazz artists and it’s a great event for the whole family.”

The couple started bringing their two daughters to the festival around the same time they started attending it and now they too continue to attend the event year after year.

“We always thought it was important to include our children because as essential as the music is to the festival, family and friends are just as imperative,” Shelia said. “We always made it a point to make new friends and through the years we have created relationships with people whom we never see or talk to except for once a year when we attend the festival.”

As important as the festival has become to them in terms of friends and family, there is still the die-hard jazz fanatic that lies deep inside their souls and I could hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes as they talked about all the great music they looked forward to over the course of the weekend.

“I love it. Jazz touches the soul of your very being,” Rich said. “That’s what jazz is - music for the soul.”

Shelia added that she loves the spontaneity of the music’s improvisation which allows for every show to be different no matter how many times you see the same band. In the midst of our conversation, Shaw’s set comes to an end and the rain disappears outside. I soon part ways with the couple, making my way out of the amphitheater and up one of the walkways passing by an energetic drum circle in the process. I spend the rest of the day mingling around the concert grounds, talking with whomever I could find that would indulge my questions about their experiences at the festival. Throughout my various conversations, the two words that continued to come up were “family” and “friends” further installing the fact that there is more to this festival than just music although the music is the driving force behind these people coming together.

Unfortunately, I decide to leave the festival before the highly-anticipated performance of Return to Forever hit the stage for even a longtime festival junkie like myself can bare so much rain.

Nonetheless, I took away a far greater understanding of what drives today’s jazz fan because once all the glistening notes have faded off into the night’s sky, there are still the memories of good times with family and friends. Now, I too know that feeling.