Salem Jazz & Soul Festival

The sixth annual Salem Jazz & Soul Festival is a free event the whole family will enjoy. In addition to live sounds of national New Orleans jazz talent, national bands and local ensembles, the day features a Salem Five music education classes, arts & crafts, a kid's tent, and much more, all at the Salem Willows on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 18 & 19, from 11:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is a family-friendly event that presents a magnetic arrangement of jazz, funk and soul performed by some of the hottest bands from New England and the United States. Ipswich Ale sponsors a beer pavilion at the Festival for both days. Proceeds from the Festival support music education and cover the expenses for putting on the Festival. The MC this year is Henley Douglas Jr. co-founder of the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival.

Saturday’s music lineup features:
11:15 am - noon Salem High School Jazz Band
12:30 - 1:30 Silvina Moreno
2:00 - 3:00 Dub Apocalypse
3:10 - 3:30 WitchPitch? A Cappella
4:00 - 5:10 Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band
5:45 - 7:00 The Pimps of Joytime

Sunday's music lineup features:
11:15 am - noon North Shore Jazz Project All Stars
12:30 - 1:30 Joel Larue Smith
2:00 - 3:00 Soule Monde
3:10 - 3:30 3rian King
4:00 - 5:10 HDRnB
5:45 - 7:00 The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Saturday’s Salem Five Music Education Tent lineup:
1:30-2 “The Power of Music,” with the Plummer Home
Local teenagers and their mentor, Plummer Home Music Director Aaron Katz,
discuss how music has had a profound, positive impact on their lives. Q&A and
original song performance to follow.
2:45-3:15 “The Singer/Songwriter,” with Silvina Moreno
Today’s performing artist Silvina Moreno discusses singing and songwriting
techniques in a workshop, with demonstration to follow.
3:30-4 “Easy Blues for the Ukulele,” with Jeff Buckridge
Geared towards kids and adults age 8 and up. Play a simple 12-bar blues form,
sing a standard blues tune and then try your hand at doing a little improvisation.
5:15-5:45 “Social Change through Music,” with Christine Baze
Pianist Christine Baze discusses and demonstrates the impact music has on
social change, community advocacy and individuals

Sunday’s Salem Five Music Education Tent lineup:
1:30-2 “Social Change through Music,” with Christine Baze
Pianist Christine Baze discusses and demonstrates the impact music has on
social change, community advocacy and individuals.
2:45-3:15 “Exploring the Science of Music,” with Luke Conlin
Underneath the beauty of music lies the science of sound waves. Through
interactive demonstrations, we will explore how properties of waves lead to
the sounds that we hear from various instruments, in a way that will hopefully
enhance, not detract from, the beauty of music!
3:30-4 “Horns of New Orleans,” with Dirty Dozen’s horn section
Todays headlining artist, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, will conduct a horns
workshop and discuss the New Orleans music scene.
5:15-5:45 “Beat Poets,” with Soule Monde
Today’s performing artists, Russ and Ray from Soule Monde, discuss basic
drumming techniques, keeping good time, and being a well-rounded drummer,
as well as their forte — writing songs around drum beats.

The North Shore Jazz Project All Stars, led by internationally renowned saxophonist, Michael Tucker, is an ensemble of North Shore of Boston’s very best high school musicians. Nominated by their instructors and selected through panel-judged auditions, these students represent the future of jazz. The Salem Jazz & Soul festival is proud to host them.

The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that produces free concerts for the public and raises money to support music education programs.

The festival builds on Salem's rich jazz history that began at the Salem Willows in the 1920s when Duke Ellington and other musicians from the Big Band era played at the seaside park in Massachusetts. The festival has add soul, blues and funk to the mix by offering a series of annual free concerts to the public, concluding with a festival each year at the Salem Willows. The festival spotlights the wealth of talented musicians on Boston’s North Shore.