By Henry Beecher Hicks
CEO of National Museum of African American Music
This coming weekend The National Museum of African American Music will partner with Nashville’s Jefferson United Merchant Partnership (“JUMP”) to produce the 14th Annual Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival! It’s an exciting weekend, but more than that, it’s a significant weekend.
Each year for more than a decade, Sharon Hurt, JUMP’s CEO, her family and a brigade of volunteers spend months planning logistics, soliciting sponsors, recruiting vendors, selling tickets and identifying local and national artists to be a part of a celebration of north Nashville’s heritage and future.
Traditionally, the weekend kicks off with a Friday night Bridging the Gap Mixer on the John Seigenthaler (Shelby Street) Bridge. This is followed by a day long festival at the Bicentennial Mall State Park featuring activities for children, vendors of all types and an afternoon filled with sounds that remind you that you are in Music City.
At first glance, you may consider that this is “just another example of black folks throwing a party” or wonder “Why do we need another street fair?” However, a closer examination will reveal just how shallow those observations are.
First, it is important to consider the makeup of the team. There are no professional concert planners here. Sharon and her team designed this weekend, built it and manage it. These people are dedicated, motivated and committed! This is important to them, but not for selfish reasons. There is a passion, even a ministry here. I think this is more significant than a party.
Second, note that the Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival has staying power. Fourteen consecutive years of anything happening is no accident. Maybe it is leadership, or community demand, that keeps that festival coming back.
Then there’s the name. Why have a jazz and blues festival on Jefferson Street anyway? Well, the festival reminds is that the soul of Nashville resides in this section of town and specifically resided on Jefferson Street prior to the time when the federal government determined that the risk of civil unrest in America’s cities warranted the intersecting and damaging the economies of urban communities. Before rapid military access was more important than thriving neighborhoods, the sound of jazz, blues and R&B wafted up and down Jefferson Street like the scent of barbeque on a breezy day.
The New Era, Baron Del Morocco and a dozen other clubs were not only frequented by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway, but they also coexisted with commercial businesses, restaurants, residents, universities and churches to make Jefferson Street the most vibrant part of town.
Celebrating and being reminded of that once a year seems like a reasonable thing to do.
But while taking a nostalgic look down Jefferson Street, we might remind ourselves that the rear view mirror does little to help us move forward. So let’s not forget that we kick the weekend off by Bridging the Gap.
The appropriately named Seigenthaler Bridge literally traverses the Cumberland River to connect east Nashville to west. But the location and name of the event serves as an important symbolic reminder that for Nashville to grow, thrive and progress there is a gap that must be bridged.
JUMP goes out of its way, not to maximize its profit on the weekend, but to provide affordable entertainment to portions of the community who may never have been to see a concert at Bridgestone Arena or the Ryman Auditorium. The Bridging the Gap mixer literally connects diverse communities in a way that creates fellowship, laughter and dialogue. JUMP makes certain to provide VIP seating for elderly patrons who may not have danced since the previous year’s festival, provides stimulating outdoor activity for children whose best friend may be a worn remote control, and offers a safe place for families to be together and to be reminded that they too are a part of what makes Nashville the “IT” city.
JUMP serves a hopeful, vibrant, astute and too often overlooked section of Nashville. The neighborhoods near Jefferson Street are seldom congested by Gray Line’s tours, and the din of Broadway and the Gulch at times makes it hard to hear the pulse of North Nashville. Nonetheless, it’s there – steady and strong.
I hope that you’ll join me and Sharon and the brigade in white t-shirts at this year’s festival so you can see and hear it for yourself. Come help us rock the bridge on Friday night, and then come back on Saturday to support the vendors, enjoy some time with friends and family, and let the music take you back to a time when Jefferson was jumpin’.
But more than that, let the Jefferson Street Jazz and Blues Festival remind you and inspire you to invest some energy into bridging a gap here and there in Nashville and her communities – so that Music City can stay in tune.
Featured Image: (l-r) Sharon Hurt, Henry Beecher Hicks