Award-winning jazz musicians will converge on the square to bring the swinging sounds of jazz to Murfreesboro this spring.
The Main Street JazzFest, now in its tenth year, begins Friday, May 5.
“It’s always a great JazzFest, but we are adding a second stage this year,” said Janelee Wise, executive director of Main Street of Murfreesboro. “Kroger is sponsoring a stage on the civic plaza, so we’ll have two stages going on Saturday instead of just one.”
There will be 14 performances on the main stage alone. This year’s broad range of performers reflects the versatile and fluid nature of jazz itself.
The Phil Woods Quintet will headline JazzFest. Alto saxophonist Phil Woods, trumpeter Brian Lynch, pianist Bill Charlap, bassist Steve Gilmore and drummer Bill Goodwin have been playing together for more than 10 years, receiving multiple Grammy Awards. Woods was inducted into the American Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997. He has performed with numerous notable artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Benny Carter and Oliver Nelson.
The renowned group will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. Woods will also host a JazzFest clinic at 3:30 p.m., where he’ll answer questions and discuss jazz with festival patrons.
Earlier in the day, Nashville-based saxophonist Rahsaan Barber will perform alongside drummer Robert Bond and Hammond B-3 organist Moe Denham, both of whom accompanied him on the recent album, TrioSoul. The group is set to take the stage at 3 p.m. Barber said that he and his brother, jazz trombonist Roland Barber, were drawn to jazz after listening to artists he described as “capable of expressing a seemingly endless array of emotions, thoughts and events through jazz.”
Barber said he is honored to participate in JazzFest and welcomes the opportunity to play in Murfreesboro.
“I aspire to move people through music in the way that jazz’s masterful performers move me whenever I hear them,” Barber said.
Respected vocalist and former MTSU student Annie Sellick is scheduled to perform just before Barber, fresh off the release of her latest album, A Little Piece of Heaven.
Barber said he looks forward to watching Sellick on stage.
“Her performances are always an enjoyable voyage for the listener, full of soul and spontaneity,” Barber said.
According to the Main Street JazzFest schedule, the other Saturday performers will be the Rutherford All-County High School Jazz Band, the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I, Roger Humphries and the MTSU All Stars and the U.S. Army Ground Forces Jazz Guardians.
Friday evening will feature a series of performances called “Future Jazz Greats.”
The sounds of area high school jazz bands will fill the square from 6:10 p.m. until around 10:20 p.m. Participating schools, in order of appearance, are: Eagleville, Siegel, Riverdale, Oakland, Blackman, Smyrna and LaVergne high schools.
This year’s festival offers more than just music. Local vendors will offer a wide variety of food and there will be a children’s area, called Kids Alley, including a sandbox, moonwalk and other “play inflatables,” karaoke, a climbing wall and a “musical instrument petting zoo.”
Children may also participate in activities with the Rutherford Recycle program and the Murfreesboro Fire Department.
Kids Alley activities are free of charge and will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
Organizers with Main Street said they expect a crowd even larger than last year’s, which was about 20,000 people.
For a complete schedule and more information about JazzFest 2006, visit mainstreetjazzfest.com.
To learn more about Rahsaan Barber, visit thebarberbrothers.com.
