The 15th annual Township Jazz Festival in Ridgeland on April 9 will celebrate rhythm, harmony and improv as well as the return of the in-person event.
Kicking off at noon with a welcome by Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee and ending with a parade led by the Southern Komfort brass band after it performs at 7 p.m., the festival offers the opportunity to hear live music outside on a spring day without having to shell out bucks for a ticket.
“Whether you consider yourself a jazz fan or an expert, come and enjoy the music and have a good time,” said Raphael Semmes, a well-known bass player and promoter of Mississippi’s music culture who handles logistics for the festival.
“We present a wide variety of sounds and talents. There will be something for everybody.”
The Nicholas Payton Trio, led by the Grammy-winning trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Payton of New Orleans, headlines the fest.
“One of the amazing things about Nicholas Payton is that he’s musically ambidextrous,” Semmes said. “He plays the keyboard with his left hand and trumpet with his right hand. It’s jaw-dropping to watch him play two instruments that diverse.”
Performances take place under a tent located on the lawn parallel to Highland Colony Parkway and in front of the retailers and restaurants stretching from Soulshine Pizza to Sombra Mexican Restaurant.
Several hundred folding chairs set under the tent are available to festivalgoers on a first-come, first-served basis. Blankets and beach chairs are welcome. Food and beverage will be available to purchase; no coolers are allowed.
Admission is free at the festival that is family friendly rather than a party scene.
“We have our sponsors to thank for free admission,” Semmes said. “We’re going to keep it free as long as we can. In these times, many people may not have the disposable income to pay for a ticket and there may be people within a relatively short distance of where we have this event who could not swing buying a ticket for their family and kids. We don’t want the next Charlie Parker to live a short distance from where we’re having these jazz performers and not get to see them.”
The festival returns to its spring timeframe after going virtual in 2020 and moving the 2021 live festival to October because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Credit Tripp Douglas with the idea to liven up the Township with jazz after he opened Fusion Coffeehouse there in 2003.
“Jazz has been part of the DNA of our concept for Fusion Coffeehouse,” Douglas said, noting that drinks are named after jazz greats, jazz plays on the speakers and some of the coffee served is roasted in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.
Douglas enlisted the help of Semmes when he wanted to offer jazz sessions at the coffeehouse. The popularity of those jazz events at Fusion led to the outdoor festival.
“When Raphael said we could have hundreds of people outside on the lawn, I thought, ‘I don’t see hundreds of people showing up for jazz,’ but he was right,” Douglas said. “If you put on a quality event with quality musicians, people will come to hear it whether they’re lovers of jazz or not.
Past festivals have featured headliners such as Mose Allison, Jason Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Ezra Brown and Astral Project.
Considered by critics to be the best modern jazz group in New Orleans, Astral Project is returning this year to provide the fest a mix of fusion, bop and a twist of New Orleans funkiness.
The 12-piece Mississippi National Guard 41st Army Band will offer a “Swingin’ in the USA” set. “We’re thrilled to have them in light of some of the things going on in the world,” Semmes.
The festival is meant to encourage jazz at high school and colleges and universities, which accounts for appearances by the Madison Central High School Jazz Band and Larry Panella and the Southern Miss Jazztet.
Panella, who directs jazz studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, is a saxophonist who has performed with numerous artists and entertainers including the Phil Collins Big Band, the Woody Herman Orchestra, Natalie Cole, Steve Allen and Frank Sinatra Jr.
Mississippi’s premier soul jazz group, The Vamps, have performed at each of the Township Jazz Fests and plan to do so again.
“Only one of our performances was affected by rain,” said Denny Burkes, percussionist for The Vamps. “I remember it vividly because it was when Sombra (Mexican Restaurant) was under construction and they moved the stage into that space.”
Together for 24 years, The Vamps take the stage without discussing the lineup of songs.
“We don’t talk about it,” he said. “Usually Barry Leach will have some things in mind he wants to play. Barry will look at us on stage and say, ‘Let’s count it off.’ It’s the level of everyone involved and the rapport we have with each other that we don’t need to talk much.”
Burkes looks forward to hearing the other performers and seeing friends as much as he does to the time on stage.
“This festival is almost mentor fest for me,” he said. “I grew up here and every mentor I grew up with and admire is there. I look out from the stage and it’s a sea of mentors looking at me.”
This year, Burkes plans on studying master drummer John Vidacovich of Astral Project.
“To do that from 10 feet away and for free is incredible,” he said. “We’re talking about world-class performers at this festival.”
The event typically draws 1,200 to 1,800 people over the course of the day, with a 400- to 500-member audience there at any given time, Douglas said.
A parade finale was never planned but just happened to occur and it’s now how each festival draws to a close.
“Southern Komfort is such a high energy group that the crowd was up on their feet and the band just marched right off of the stage and down the parking lot,” Semmes recalled.
An often-heard comment is “We wish the festival could go on longer,” Douglas said.
Here is the 2022 festival schedule:
- Noon— Welcome by Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee
- 12:05-12:30 p.m. — Madison Central High School Jazz Band
- 12:45-1:30 p.m. — Mississippi National Guard 41st Army Band
- 1:45-2:30 pm. — Larry Panella and the Southern Miss Jazztet
- 2:45-3:30 p.m. — The Vamps, Mississippi’s premier soul jazz group
- 3:45-4:30 p.m. — Astral Project, New Orleans contemporary jazz
- 5-6:10 p.m. — The Nicholas Payton Trio
- 6:20-7 p.m. — Southern Komfort
