“Jazz on the Levee” Saturday, July 21, at 6 p.m. will officially launch a new free music festival for The Arkansas Delta. Local jazz musicians will be the first to take the stage on the Cherry Street Levee in Helena-West Helena after an official opening with Mayor James F. Valley.
At 7 p.m., nationally-recognized jazz performer, physician, preacher, and founder of The Juneteenth Foundation, The Rev. Dr. Ronald Myers Sr. will be featured amidst other leading jazz musicians and the Delta Percussion Ensemble on the big stage. Dr. Myers and his jazz team headline jazz events across the country but their hearts are in keeping jazz alive where it was born, The Mississippi River Delta. Their best known CD is Doctor’s Orders, containing original jazz compositions by Myers.
“We hear so much about the Blues and all too often forget that many of the jazz greats were born in the Delta. We look forward to working with Walnut Street Works to build the Jazz on the Levee tradition this year and expand it in the years to come. Next Saturday will be history in the making as we join together to bring jazz to the big stage where so many of Blues greatest musicians have been in concert,” Myers said. “The event will also annually commemorate Juneteenth as we work to make it a national holiday,“ he added. “We remember that day of freedom for our people not just on one day but throughout the year. The goal is to grow the event each year from an event concert into a full jazz festival."
Myers also owns a professional basketball team and chairs the annual week-long Juneteenth Commemoration in Washington, D.C. He is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin medical school.
Following graduation he came to the Delta to serve as a physician to people living in poverty with no insurance. His headquarters are in Belzoni, Mississippi, but he is licensed and practices medicine in clinics throughout The Delta, including Arkansas.
“The needs for quality health care are overwhelming in the Delta. I look forward to not only joining with friends in Phillips County to bring jazz alive but also to bring health care to people in need,” he explained. “God is always expanding our possibilities for service.”
As the Artistic Director of the Mississippi Jazz and Heritage Program, Myers works to keep jazz a household name in the Delta. “The Mississippi River Delta has a rich jazz legacy,” states Myers. “One of the greatest jazz pianists in the world, Mulgrew Miller, was born in the Delta and one of the greatest jazz composers since Duke Ellington, Gerald Wilson, lived in Shaw, Mississippi.
Myers himself figures among the greats. Noted jazz critic Williard Jenkins, who frequently reviews jazz recordings for Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines, called Doctor’s Orders “one of the most important recordings in the last ten years.” In the musical selection in the CD, Myers is accompanied by many of the musicians who will be performing together July 21 on Cherry Street.
Ohio Presbyterian Preacher The Rev. Dr. Robert E. Jones calls Myers “a true renaissance man.” As an ordained Baptist preacher, Myers is founder and director of the Fellowship of Creative Christian Jazz Musicians. He leads and performs in unique jazz worship services, giving praise to God through improvisational worship music. “Like Psalmist David in Amos 6:5, who praised God through improvisational worship, I love to praise God through jazz,” states Rev. Myers. “The psalmist says in Psalms 150, “’Let everything that has breath Praise the Lord.” he reminds listeners. Last year Myers combined his jazz and Biblical teaching skills to address doctoral students at United Theological Seminary grappling with racial disparities in America.
People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on at Jazz on The Levee. In case of rain everything will be moved to the MALCO Theater. Walnut Street Works, better know as “Common Stride,” is sponsoring the free event along with friends in the Arkansas Delta. Persons interesting in volunteering are encouraged to call Common Stride, 870-338-9900, or stop in at the office at 419 Cherry Street, Helena.
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