Jazz has an illustrious if disjointed history in Music City.
The Jefferson Street R&B scene of the 1950s showcased jump blues and hard swinging improvisation. The Music Row A Team studio cats used to head over to Printer’s Alley back in the day to jam, and a supergroup of them, including Chet Atkins, Boots Randolph and Buddy Harmon, set out to play the ill-fated 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, resulting in a historic, unexpected recording. The city’s music programs at Vanderbilt, Tennessee State, and Belmont have been havens for great musicians and training grounds for new generations. And after some churn in the market, we again have a serious club in Rudy’s Jazz Room in the Gulch.
We’d be remiss not to mention the fact that for about 35 years, WMOT 89.5 FM was a leading national voice in jazz radio, spearheaded for most of that time by our Friday night Bel Aire Drive host Greg Lee.
Over years, various musicians and instigators have dreamed of a festival to showcase Nashville’s home town jazz talent, and it’s finally coming to pass this weekend at 3rd & Lindsley with a distinguished and varied lineup. Both days of The Inaugural Nashville Jazz Festival are technically sold out, but maybe you can finagle something or pick up a single from a friend. And it will be livestreamed over Volume.com (link below). Either way it’ll be high energy and historic.
“Personally, I've been thinking about a city wide jazz festival like this for years,” co-organizer and world-famous saxophone player and composer Jeff Coffin told me this week. “One that really showcases the playing and compositional talent that we have here.”
He said that a pivotal moment came when David Rodgers, a young pianist and composer who came to town in 2013 to attend Vanderbilt University, took the reins at the Nashville Jazz Workshop in 2024. They had the same dream and got to work, pulling in allies along the way. “All the people working on this have been vital. NJW, our great sponsors, and the over seventy local musicians who are making this festival happen. I'll take some credit too of course, because I have been working my tail off helping arrange certain things as well, and I have been pushing improvisational music here since I arrived in 1991.”
Coffin has been super visible nationally as part of the Dave Matthews Band for the past 17 years and Béla Fleck & The Flecktones before that. He’s released a couple dozen albums as a leader or co-leader, along with extensive session work and a long track record as an educator. Always enthusiastic, he seems especially keyed up about this weekend. “Improvisational music is a big part of Nashville and always has been,” he said by email. “It's woven in and through the culture here and it continues to make its way to the top. I'm glad to be part of it!!
As for Rodgers, he told Music City Review that “the moment felt right” for executing a vision he’s had for quite some time. “Our guiding value was connection – uniting Nashville’s many sectors of jazz under one banner,” he said. “Jeff and I wanted the lineup to reflect the full spectrum of our city’s scene: from veteran artists who’ve shaped the sound of Music City for decades to younger innovators who are redefining it for a new generation.”
Some artists will be familiar to WMOT listeners as alumni of The String, including guitarist Guthrie Trapp, and drummers Marcus Finnie and Sophia Goodman. Finnie will be joined by nationally noted saxophone player Tia Fuller, while Goodman’s collaborator will be Nashville sax veteran Don Aliquo. Saturday evening launches with exciting young, contemporary pianist Tyler Bullock and his trio.
On Sunday, a gospel brunch will feature pianist Pat Coil’s trio followed by Ralph T. Lofton, an all-around gospel star who works with Kirk Whalum. The balance of the day includes the Blair School of Music’s Big Band and classic sounding pianist and vocalist Chris Walters. Sunday night’s headlining set is a mighty all-star band with Coffin, Cory Wong, trumpeter Jennifer Hartwick (Trey Anastasio Band and more), Grammy-winning star musician Mike Elizondo and more. There will be a tribute to beloved Nashville sax man Denis Solee who passed away last week and a second line parade to close out the festival.
Sign up for the donate-what-you-can livestream here. Funds will support the Nashville Jazz Workshop.
