Birmingham gospel jazz band Overfloe will perform as part of the Jazz in the Park
series this summer.
Jazz is coming to your local green space.
Magic City Smooth Jazz will bring free weekly concerts all summer long across Birmingham for Jazz in the Park. Among the more than two dozen artists on the lineup are Kim Scott, Overfloe, Foxxy Fatts, Tena Wilson and Kenneth Williams.
“Part of our mission of exposing a variety of jazz music to a diverse audience is our commitment to music education,” says Bernard Lockhart, executive director of Magic City Smooth Jazz, the Birmingham nonprofit group putting on the concert series for its second year.
The Neo Jazz Collective will provide free music lessons on a variety of instruments at each show. In addition, each event will promote healthy lifestyles; many performances will take place in neighborhoods with a low to medium average income but high rates of lung cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.
“Our cultural strategy to address the issues of tobacco and obesity is to promote our summer concert series as smoke free and to include healthy food vendors” Lockhart says. Vendors who provide healthy food options receive a 50 percent discount on participation fees. West End Community Gardens and Jones Valley Urban Farm will offer food samples and information on nutrition.
The free concert series runs from 5 to 9 p.m. Sundays, except for the Independence Day kickoff next Monday. For more information, visit the Jazz in the Park series page or call Bernard Lockhart at (205) 616-1735.
Schedule:
- July 4: Caldwell Park, Southside [map]
- July 10: W.C. Patton Park, East Birmingham [map]
- July 17: Ensley Park [map]
- July 24: East Lake Park [map]
- July 31: Legion Field, Graymont [map]
- Aug. 7: Birmingham Botanical Gardens [map]
- Aug. 14: Vulcan Park [map]
- Aug. 21: Tom Bradford Park, Huffman [map]
- Aug. 28: Third Avenue North and 18th Street, downtown (during the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival) [map]
- Sept. 4: Railroad Park, downtown [map]
Update Sept. 5: The Sept. 4 concert, delayed by severe weather, has been changed to Sept. 11. The location will be Railroad Park or another venue.
Update Sept. 7: The Sept. 11 concert will be at Linn Park downtown [map].
Also:
- Jazz in the Park performer list
- Magic City Smooth Jazz website | Facebook
- Neo Jazz Collective website | Twitter @NeoJazzSOM
Video: “Oh Happy Day,” by Kenneth Williams
Video: “Impressions,” by Kim Scott
• More Shermika Dunner at ArtBLT
