City's jazz greats to headline summer concert series

Longtime Nashville blues vocalist and bandleader Marion James, topflight jazz composer and instrumentalist Pat Coil, and the nationally prominent funk, blues, R&B and rock ensemble The Wooten Brothers are among the headliners for the Tennessee Jazz & Blues Society’s (TJBS) 2009 summer “Jazz on the Lawn” concert series.

Concerts begin with James’ show May 10th, and will be held at the Belle Meade Plantation’s Carriage House, 5025 Harding Pike. Tickets are $20, $10 for TJBS members, with children under seven admitted free. All shows start at 6 p.m. Martha’s at the Plantation provides on-site catering services of sandwiches and salads as well as wine by the glass available for purchase. Outside food and beverages will be allowed.

James has performed with a host of area and national music greats, among them Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox, Rufus Thomas, and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. She’s also been active for many years in fundraising and philanthropic ventures to raise funds for musicians battling illness and/or financial difficulties.

Jim Williamson and the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, one of the region’s few large groups able to play traditional swing, contemporary mainstream and hard bop material, plus blues and reconfigured pop and rock tunes with equal flair, will appear along with Music City favorite Annie Sellick June 21.

The fiery Latin jazz combo El Movemiento are set for July 5, while special guest trumpeter Michael Fair joins the popular R&B powerhouse Scat Springs July 19. Pat Coil appears August 9 and The Wooten Brothers conclude the series August 23.

For more information about either the series or the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society contact jazzblues.org.