Fisk Food and Jazz Festival Keeps It Smooth

Since it launched in 1973, radio station WFSK 88.1-FM — better known as Jazzy 88 — has become a major part of the landscape of Fisk University. When Middle Tennessee State University station WMOT changed to an Americana format in 2016, Jazzy 88 became the area’s only 24/7 jazz station. One way the station has furthered its goals of maintaining that programming consistency and growing its audience is the Fisk Food and Jazz Festival, a free family-oriented happening that was also launched in 2016 as part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations. The event returns to the campus on Saturday as part of the station’s Black Music Month festivities. 

“The festival gives our local audience the chance to see performers from not only around the nation, but in some cases globally,” says WFSK general manager Sharon Kay. “We get to bring in some artists who don’t necessarily play Nashville or regularly appear here, and we really hear from our audience how much they appreciate that opportunity. Also, as a smooth and contemporary jazz station, we’ve been able to unite those two sometimes divergent audience segments. The festival showcases both vocalists and instrumentalists, and offers the audience a chance to enjoy the spectrum of the music.”

While WFSK has played a variety of jazz over the years, since the late ’80s the station has emphasized the smooth and contemporary format, though specialty shows air through the week like the syndicated NPR show Jazz Night in America and Tennessee Radio Hall of Famer Kay’s twice-weekly talk program What’s the 411? At the top of the festival lineup this year is saxophonist Marcus Anderson, a onetime member of the late Prince’s band who tours with genre legend Dave Koz. Anderson has released 18 solo studio albums since 2005 and has had five releases that have topped various Billboard charts. Trumpeter and producer Lin Rountree, who just marked his fifth No. 1 single on Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay chart with “Naturally” from his album The Chill, will also be there, as will keyboardist Carol Albert, who just released her latest full-length Pieces of Me June 20.

Rounding out the bill are guitarist-singer Andréa Lisa, who had a big 2024 with her own album Silver Lining and a guest appearance on Kirk Whalum’s Epic Cool, and Nashville’s own Tramaine Arte’Mis and the Improv 7 Band. Arte’Mis has excelled not only in jazz circles, but also gospel, R&B, opera and musical theater.

Despite a strong lineup and core sponsorship group, Kay acknowledges that current events have resulted in this year’s festival being more of a challenge to organize than in some past years. 

“We’ve had some sponsors cut back on their donations, and they’ve told us it is a direct result of things happening in Washington and the changes in attitude from this administration — towards even events like this one that are nonpolitical and family-friendly,” she says. “It’s been a struggle, but it’s one that we feel is certainly worth the effort. We’re a national reporting station [for airplay charts] now for smooth and contemporary jazz, and Mediabase verifies that we’re among the nation’s top smooth and contemporary outlets. This festival lets us help show the public the top artists in this music, and also give food vendors a good chance to expand their markets as well.”

Now approaching her second decade at the helm of WFSK, Kay says the station and the festival are in particularly key places right now. 

“Jazz is a vital and important music, and we’re happy as a station to be the only regular broadcast outlet in Nashville that’s presenting it on a daily basis. The festival’s an outgrowth of that, but it’s really an ongoing effort and lots of work — work that we’re glad to keep doing as a service to the community.”