In 1960, iconic bassist Charles Mingus protested the popular commercialization of the Newport Jazz Festival by organizing an alternative festival of his own a little further down the shorefront. There are echoes of those clashing events in this weekend’s counterprogramming of the Richmond Jazz and Music Festival at Maymont and the Mingus Awareness Project (MAP), an ALS benefit featuring local musicians at three different city venues.
There is no contest from a scale perspective. The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival attracts thousands of people to Maymont Park. There are corporate sponsors, private seating areas, food and craft vendors and two music stages. Among the performers are jazz and jazz-adjacent acts, notably shapeshifting ensemble Snarky Puppy and jazz/hip-hop blenders Trap Jazz. But the headliners are “The Voice’s” Terisa Griffin, “American Idol” winner and “The Color Purple” actor Fantasia Taylor and rapper-actor (and Capital One pitchman) Ludacris; while Haitian rapper and producer Wyclef Jean will serve as an artist-in-residence, performing on both stages. Also on the bill is the crowd-pleasing St. Paul and the Broken Bones, an eight-piece soul group from Birmingham, Alabama; see Style Weekly’s 2014 backstage video below from their Brown’s Island show.
There was a time when including the word ‘jazz’ in the title bestowed an aura of respectability to a big festival like this, even if the lineup was more adult contemporary, R&B, and other, more commercial music. Give credit to the organizers, JMI, who have been gradually rebranding the event as predominantly music, with the word “jazz” shrinking to become typographically vestigial. For the large group of people who love these genres, this is a polished, successful, and well-run event in an absolutely beautiful location. Remember if you plan to catch the afternoon acts, it is always good to show up early enough to get a seat in the shade of a tree. Those go fast in the blazing sunlight of mid-August.
Above video: St. Paul and the Broken Bones go out big at Brown’s Island in 2014.
But, if actual jazz is your main interest, the edge goes to MAP. The benefit was started by the Godston brothers, childhood friends of local drummer Brian Jones, in tribute to their mother who, like Mingus and Lou Gehrig, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The first edition of the event was held in 2007, and it has been roughly annual ever since, with a couple of gaps in the mid-teens and the COVID era. In the past, it has been a single concert. This year it is three at three venues.
“Last year, it featured Doug Richards and the Big Band at Firehouse Theatre,” says Jones, an organizer of the event. “That place holds 100 people, and it sold out quickly. I had friends calling me to get in, and I had to tell them they were out of luck, there was limited space. I did get some backlash, which was kind of funny. Then Ilya Grossman, who books the Firehouse, proposed doing multiple nights. He caught me in a moment of weakness because I said ‘Sure, let’s do it.'”
Friday night’s concert is at The Basement, a downstairs black box theater with a lobby that has a speakeasy vibe. “It’s a really cool venue,” Jones says. “And it turns out that [pianist] Daniel Clarke, one of my longest running collaborators, has never played one of these events. So it was a great excuse to get the trio [with bassist Randall Pharr] back up and running.” The program also features “special guests,” which given Jones’ deep roots in Richmond, opens a wide range of possibilities.
Saturday night is just around the corner at Ember Music Hall, a performance venue with a mid-club stage and an EDM-optimized sound system. “When I saw the place, I immediately thought of NoBS! Brass,” Jones remembers. That band played an earlier edition of MAP and has even released an album dedicated to Mingus’ music. Also playing is Michael Hawkins and the Brotherhood, a straight-ahead powerhouse featuring Hawkins on bass, Weldon Hill on piano, and the irrepressible James “Saxsmo” Gates on horn.
Sunday night is a return to the Firehouse Theatre, with the Toby Whitaker Ensemble and the Charles Owens Quartet. “A couple of years ago, I came across a download of the live set Toby played at MAP in 2014,” Jones explains. “I realized I had it for years and never listened to it. It was incredible from a sonic standpoint, and the performances were killer. It was fun, kind of a Latin side of Mingus.” Jones apologized to him for taking so long to get to it, then put it on his Slang Sanctuary Records site on Bandcamp. “I told him that we needed to put that band together and do it again,” he adds.
The Charles Owens Quartet opens for Whitaker’s octet. “The thing about Charles is that he is super-conscientious. He always puts a great band together, has cool charts, and rehearses. When he is on the program I can relax, because he is the guy who is going to take care of business,” says Jones.
So these are your choices: The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival’s sprawling, friendly, multi-stage musical showcase featuring rare appearances from famous and semi-famous artist in the sylvan expanses of Maymont, or great area players celebrating a singular composer in jazz in intimate venues for a worthy cause. There is not really a bad choice because the appeal is probably to two amiably different audiences.
The Richmond Jazz and Music Festival takes place rain or shine from Friday, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 11. Tickets are $40 for the Friday night Hippodrome opener, $169.38 for day passes Saturday or Sunday, or $299.25 for a weekend pass. For complete information and schedule, visit RichmondJazzandMusicFestival.com.
The Mingus Awareness Project events include: Brian Jones Trio and special guests at The Basement, Friday, Aug. 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 advance/$30 at the door. Also, on Saturday, Aug. 10 the No BS! Brass and the Mike Hawkins Brotherhood, Saturday, August 10th at 6PM. Tickets are $20 advance/$30 at the door. The Toby Whitaker Ensemble and the Charles Owens Quartet at the Firehouse Theatre, Sunday, August 11th at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $30 advance/$40 at the door.
