The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will produce its 8th-annual City of Salem Jazz Appreciation Day concert in early April in downtown Salem.
Kicking off Jazz Appreciation Month in April, this event is coordinated in partnership between the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival and the City of Salem. Salem Five, a major festival sponsor, has donated the venue for the concert, which is free to the public.
The free show will take place in the Salem Five Community Room on the Essex Street Walking Mall, on Saturday, April 8, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Performing this year will be the North Shore Jazz Project (NSJP) All Stars, a big band made up of the North Shore’s premier high school-aged jazz musicians, directed by professional saxophonist Mike Tucker.
“The NSJP All Stars play our main festival each year, and the crowds are impressed by their talent. We want them to be featured at Jazz Appreciation Day,” said Ian Cannon the festival’s board president. “Having these young musicians on stage is at the core of what the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is about – providing students with an opportunity to perform at no cost to the public.”
This show will open the festival’s eleventh season of producing free concerts and supporting music-education causes throughout the North Shore.
In the coming months, the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival (SJSF), a volunteer-run nonprofit, will put on:
- The SJSF/Berklee Summer Series at Derby Square, Salem, with Berklee College of Music student bands, on May 13, June 10, July 8, and Aug. 12.
- The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival, a two-day, outdoor music festival at the Salem Willows, with 10 bands, a music-education tent, kids tent, 21-plus beer garden and artisans selling hand-made goods, Aug. 19-20.
Please visit www.salemjazzsoul.org for more information.