“I would tell anyone, you can listen to any kind of record, but it’s nothing like listening to a live album,” says LaRian Finney, whose musical taste was refined before most of his brain had a chance to develop. Brought up in Cherry Hill on Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, and Donny Hathaway, the Baltimore-bred businessman was no older than six when he remembers being blown away by Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album.
“That’s really where my love of music started,” he says, though it was Gaye’s “Live at the London Palladium” double album that changed him forever.
“It’s the ultimate musical experience, and it’s Marvin Gaye as you would never see him. Hearing the live instrumentation, his cadence, his rhythm with the live orchestra, and the way he interacts with the audience, you know, that’s just my heartbeat.”
As managing partner of The Finn Group, a Baltimore-based firm specializing in strategy, marketing, and branding, along with event design and management, Finney has spent close to three decades curating exquisite live music and cultural events, perhaps most notably through Jazzy Summer Nights, the group’s annual summer concert series. Known for headlining acts such as Leela James, Biz Markie, Tank and the Bangas, Chuck Brown, and Raheem DeVaughn, the series embarked on its 25th and final season this summer.
“I think this is a great year to end it,” Finney says of the monthly event, which takes place at Hopkins Plaza and, despite the day’s on-and-off rain, filled the park with some hundreds of locals on August 7. Most sporting comfortable attire, many huddling near the park’s water fountain, they boogied past dusk to the Go-Go Museum All-Stars band and its pulsating, DC-style rhythms. The female ensemble commanded the crowd’s full attention with covers of danceable favorites like “Essence” by Wizkid and Tems, “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan, and “CUFF IT” by Beyoncé.
“I started this event in my 30s for my peer group. Now, [my] peer group is in their mid-50s to early 60s, and the rigors of going out once a month may be a little different. And the newer generation, I don’t think they’re into this type of live music, where I think it could sustain itself.”
A lot goes into making Jazzy Summer Nights a city-wide success. The ticketed event — where many locals met their spouses, and, as Finney says, went on to bring their families — is known and loved not only for its roster of incredible performers, but for treating guests to high-end perks. Last month’s August 7 bash at Hopkins Plaza, where Finney was seen sporting Louboutin, Ron Tomson, Louis Vuitton, and Tom Ford as he mingled with guests, featured a VIP tent with fresh oysters, a cash bar, and signature cocktails.
In 1999, a year before the series took off, Finney co-owned Larry Stewart’s Place, a long-closed lounge on Calvert Street in downtown Baltimore, which hosted frequent jam sessions.
“One night, I was looking out our third floor office across the street, and [saw] an alley,” Finney says, recalling how he came up with the idea to build an outdoor stage there. Soon, Jazz in the Alley began with a performance by Baltimore soul and jazz group Fertile Ground.
“There were hundreds of people who were just spilled out onto the street. We had to close down Calvert Street because it became so crowded,” Finney recalls.
A year later, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore approached Finney with hopes of starting something even bigger, turning Jazz in the Alley into Jazzy Summer Nights. It moved from Calvert Street to Charles Center, then outside City Hall, before establishing a home at Hopkins Plaza.
In recent years, the series has experimented with other locations like Port Covington, now Baltimore Peninsula. But this year, with the help of Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, the Finn Group made a choice to bring it back to its old stomping grounds.
“It became what it is when we moved it to Hopkins Plaza,” Finney insists.
“It’s an intimate scene. You’re surrounded by the buildings, and as you transition to nighttime, you have the lights of the city. The music has a richness in texture because of the surrounding environment. And it’s Baltimore.”
LaRian Finney, managing partner of The Finn Group
“It’s an intimate scene. You’re surrounded by the buildings, and as you transition to nighttime, you have the lights of the city. The music has a richness in texture because of the surrounding environment. And it’s Baltimore. You could stay in nice hotels and travel around the world, but it’s nothing like going home, being in your own bed, opening your own refrigerator, and drinking your own bottle of wine. That’s what Hopkins Plaza is for Jazzy Summer Nights.”
The September 11 edition of the series — which was postponed due to weather — will bring regulars to Hopkins Plaza one last time for sounds by songstress Lady Alma, before closing out next month on October 2 outside of City Hall with headliner Dru Hill.
Looking ahead, Finney already has a few plans in the works to keep live music flowing, including a Coachella-style music festival slated for summer of 2026. He’s proud when he looks back on what The Finn Group built through Jazzy Summer Nights.
“This is really my love letter to Baltimore,” Finney says of the event, which he now likens to a grown child, set to flee the nest. He’s ready, and delighted to know Jazzy Summer Nights will leave a legacy of boosting Black-owned businesses throughout the city.
“It just shows the power of collaboration, and if we come intentionally, with one North Star, which is creating what’s good for our city, amazing things can happen.”
LaRian Finney, managing partner of The Finn Group
“It just shows the power of collaboration, and if we come intentionally, with one North Star, which is creating what’s good for our city, amazing things can happen.”
And amazing things have happened on the Jazzy Summer Nights stage, from its very first performance with jazz saxophonist Kim Waters and Baltimore’s own bluesy Kelly Bell Band, to husband-and-wife neo-soul duo Kindred the Family Soul this year, on June 5.
Years from now, when they remember Jazzy Summer Nights, he hopes fans feel a fraction of what he does after listening to the album of Gaye sing some of his favorite songs — “All The Way Around,” “Distant Lover” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” — at the London Palladium.
Like Gaye’s iconic double album —- seamless with its medleys, nostalgic, and yet effortlessly fresh and flirty 48 years later — Finney hopes that Jazzy Summer Nights will linger in the minds of those who loved it.
“You get fond memories,” he says. “You get a warm feeling. You can say that it touched you, that in some form or fashion, it made an imprint on your life. It’s part of what made summers in Baltimore special.”