Newark is alive with outdoor music each summer and has been for decades — reaching at least as far back to the old Sarah Vaughn, then Newark Jazz Festivals of the 1980s and the great Hammond B3 Organ summits of the 1990s.

Virginia-born tenor saxophonist Bradford Hayes came north to Newark in 1983 right after earning his degree in music education from North Carolina A&T State University. He started both teaching here — first at the old Vailsburg High School — and playing in jam sessions. Soon Hayes was performing in clubs and on college campuses in the city and nationwide. "My life is in Newark," Hayes said. Hayes later taught at Central High; the majority of his ongoing teaching career was at Luis Munoz Marin Middle School as both teacher and band director.

"I'd put my middle school band up against any high school band," Hayes said. Among his former students is Wyclef Jean, originally of "Fugees" fame. "I play my CD, 'The Jazz Life,' and other CDs for the students, it inspires them to play and practice," Hayes said. "They ask, 'How did you get to play like that?' and I say, 'practice.' "

Until recently, Hayes also led the Summer Jazz Workshop at Newark's famed Arts High School.

In the mid-1980s, Hayes was playing a jam session downstairs from an area recording studio. The legendary folk singer Odetta was recording upstairs with Grammy Award-winning percussionist Babatunde Olatunji. "He heard me play and liked it, two years later he called me to come to a rehearsal that Wednesday night," Hayes said. Hayes was performing with "Babatunde Olatunji's Drums of Passion Band" that same week; Philly on Friday, Boston on the weekend. He toured with the late Olatunji during weekends and summers for 15 years.

As Hayes' name and his own band became known, Hayes also began playing for Newark's enthusiastic outdoor summer parks audiences and has been ever since. "I arrive in the park so early, that I am usually by myself; I arrive even before the parks department," Hayes said. "As a teacher and a musician, I have two sides — the organized and orderly and the creative and flexible."

This summer, you can hear the "Bradford Hayes Quartet" playing for free at three of the four main outdoor summer music venues — The Essex County Summer Music Concert Series, the Thursday night "Sounds of the City" outdoor music series in Theater Square in front of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and the lunch time Wednesday Farmer's Market concerts in Washington Park, opposite the Newark Public Library. The fourth venue for outdoor music in Newark is the "Jazz in the Garden Series at the Newark Museum" which opened Thursday.

"I played at the first 'Sounds of the City' concert and am back with my quartet this summer on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 5:30 pm. to 6:30 p.m.," Hayes said. Hayes' group is made up of himself on tenor saxophone and three area-based musicians well known to audiences — Michael Cochrane on piano, Calvin Jones on bass and Greg Searvance on drums.

"'Sounds of the City' has been very successful from the start; they attract about 2,000 people each Thursday. It brings in many acts each week to appeal to different generations and musical tastes," Hayes said. "The early groups attract the older listeners and people getting off work at 5, 6 p.m. The crowd gets younger as the evening goes on. Later, a deejay takes over and you can really see the switch in the audience."

Hayes remembers playing at an early Essex County concert in Branch Brook Park years ago. This season, he's performing on the R&B side of things come Tuesday, July 12, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in nearby Orange at the Monte Irvin Park on Central Avenue. The park is named for the Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder and power hitter — Irvin played with the New York Giants in the 1949-55 seasons — who grew up and lived in Orange.

As to the Wednesday Farmers Market concerts, which run from noon to 2 p.m., seating and food are available or bring your own lunch. Hayes and his group will be there on Wednesday, Aug. 3. These are smaller concerts and perhaps a little less widely known. You can catch a few songs with the kids before heading out to the Newark Black Film Festival Wednesday family screenings at the Newark Museum nearby.

The Farmers Market concerts are organized by the City of Newark Parks and Recreation Department and are in the lineage of daytime city park concerts that Hayes first played about 25 years ago. Newark fixture, Jimmy "Chops" Jones, who died this winter at age 94, organized the Parks Department music for years.

"There wasn't a big budget for publicity, but Newark loves music," Hayes said. "People would see the announcements and come, on a nice day we would get audiences of about 200 people."

When Hayes performs, he said he assures a multi-generational theme, "I invite all my students and former students. We are in touch through email and a special Facebook page. ... That's what it's all about, you have to expose kids to the music for it to stay alive."

Learn more about Hayes; NJPAC's "Sounds of the City" runs through Aug. 25. See for the 2011 line up. Click here for the complete schedule of the Essex County Summer Music Concert Series.