Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival Brings Vital Historical Perspective

As is the case with so many other events this year, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a big change in the Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival. What would normally have been a gala outdoor celebration marking the festival's 20th anniversary instead became a virtual one. It featured a collection of interviews with key figures as well as an impressive showcase for the dynamic Nashville R&B band Bizz and Everyday People.

The event was hosted by Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership CEO and Metro Councilmember Sharon Hurt. It served to not only remind and update those who viewed the stream on Facebook about the lengthy and impressive history of music on Jefferson Street, but also help raise funds for JUMP, whose building was destroyed during the March tornado. 

A strong list of participants talked with Hurt about both their involvement in the festival and its importance in Music City's overall cultural growth. Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitor’s Corp., expressed his organization's long support for the fest, as did the Nashville Jazz Workshop's Roger Spencer and Lori Mechem, who also talked about the forthcoming relocation of the NJW and its Jazz Cave venue to nearby Buchanan Street. The National Museum of African American Music's CEO and president Henry Beecher Hicks III discussed the museum's opening, currently set for Sept. 3. He also reaffirmed the power of Black music and the festival's standing as a top musical event. 

Veteran performers Jimmy Church and Paula Chavis were also among the interviewees, looking back at their time in the city and past performances in the festival. Church cited the generational changes he'd witnessed and the fact that integrated audiences have helped keep jazz, blues and soul alive. Chavis delivered a spontaneous performance of the Ellington standard "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" with gusto, displaying the swing and rich delivery that have made her one of the city's finest jazz vocalists. Eric Holt of the promotions group Lovenoise talked about how the festival's musical menu has expanded to include contemporary acts as well as the legacy performers it's long been known for.

The performance segments with Bizz and Everyday People, which appeared to have been filmed in a space inside Bridgestone Arena, expanded on the points made in the interviews, and provided the musical flair and soul for the event. An area staple for nearly a decade, the band features vocalists Wendell "Bizz" Bigsby-Church (eldest son of Jimmy Church) and Katrice Donaldson, backed by keyboardist Erskine Ford Jr., trumpeter David Kellert, guitarist Khristopher Miller, saxophonist Marcus Moore, bassist Jarvis Mosby and drummer Marvin Sams. The group performed an array of outstanding Black music, with first-rate covers including the late Bill Withers' "Use Me" and "Lean on Me," as well as a vibrant version of the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing." 

Donaldson had the lead vocal on their opening rendition of the Chaka Khan and Rufus song "Ain't Nobody," and also excelled on the group's performance of Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love." Bizz also brought topical and political fire to his rendition of Gaye's "Inner City Blues." The vocalists' stage presence and charisma, even without an audience, was also delightful, and they worked in some unexpected material, like a cover of Experience Unlimited's 1988 Grammy-nominated single "Da Butt." While predominantly a funk-soul ensemble, the backing band offered solid doses of improvisational flavor.

Everyone who's previously enjoyed the Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival most certainly looks forward to seeing and hearing it outdoors next year. But this year's virtual event offered ample musical thrills and plenty of valuable historical perspective.

*Update, June 23: In a release, organizers note that the event raised more than $20,000 for JUMP, and a music-only edit of the program is set to stream via Facebook at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 27.