Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival returns in July

Two notable music events are now on the radar, one of which will take place next weekend. But let’s start with the bigger ones first:

The 11th annual Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival will take place again July 12-13 in Stearns Square and the Tower Square Park area.

The annual music fest is a free, family-friendly festival that showcases Springfield’s diverse culture and draws thousands of visitors each year to enjoy the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel, funk, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, hip-hop and more. The festival also features a Jazz & Justice Speaker Series that explores the history and cultural roots of the music, its social contexts, and issues of racial and climate justice.

Featured artists include Alfredo Rodriguez, Ranky Tanky, Lisa Fischer, Brandee Younger and T’Swan and Talynt.

Hailing from Havana, Cuba, Rodriguez first practiced on a makeshift keyboard drawn on his parents’ dining room table. This determination showed that he could not be denied and eventually led him to the Montreux Jazz Festival, where Quincy Jones invited him to the US, leaving his family and Cuban citizenship behind.

Since then, Rodriguez has earned a Grammy nomination for “Guantanamera” from his album “The Invasion Parade” and has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” DownBeat, The New York Times and more.

New York-based Brandee Younger is a harpist on a mission to redefine the instrument for the digital age. She made history in 2022 as the first Black woman to receive a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition and an NAACP Image Award nomination.

Younger began playing the harp at the age of 11, then went on to study classical music at the Hartt School and later switched to jazz under the direction of Jackie McLean. Her career includes performances with jazz icons such as Pharoah Sanders and Ravi Coltrane, and appearances on albums by Lakecia Benjamin and Robert Glasper.

South Carolina’s Ranky Tanky won Best Regional Roots Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards for their sophomore release, “Good Time.” The album also topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart. The group has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’ and The TODAY Show,

Lisa Fischer, who has both a Grammy and an Oscar under her belt, is a kind of musical chameleon, who easily switches through different musical tones, from soul to jazz, from rock to gospel. She first built a career as a backup singer and worked with music notables such as the Rolling Stones and Luther Vandross. Now Fischer is blazing her own trail with Grand Baton and exploring new musical horizons.

T’Swan and Talynt use their siblings’ synergy to create a different kind of hip-hop. Born in Springfield, they both have solo careers, but also join forces for the festival.

The other event is Pioneer Valley Brewery hosting an outdoor beer garden with live music and food trucks on June 29 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

The event will take place behind 151 Third Street and adjacent to the beautiful Unity Park on the riverfront in downtown Turners Falls. The music is by Jimmy Just Quit. The next shows in this series are Grove Prophet on Saturday 27 July (with 9pm fireworks on the riverbank) and Tracy & Co. on August 24.

If it rains, this event will move inside the brewery.