Music at the Intersection will hold it’s fourth edition September 14th and 15th in St. Louis. It has quickly taken flight as one of the best heritage music festivals in the country with prior years’ luminaries including Herbie Hancock, Snarky Puppy, Kamasi Washington, Erykah Badu and Lalah Hathaway, among others.
This year continues adds living legends Chaka Khan and Stanley Clarke, and adds current stars like Black Pumas, Big Boi, and Trombone Shorty to the roster. It’s a fairly eclectic mix with everything from straight on jazz (Samara Joy, Esperanza Spaliding) to funk (Lettuce, Trombone Shorty) to afrofunk/Cuban (Cimafunk).
There’s something for everyone – those that read FunkCity.net know we’re gonna hit as much as possible when we’re there, but lean heavily on new jazz and funk. Here’s the acts we’re planning to hit each day, depending on the timing of the sets and the proximity of the stages. We’ll see how closely we can come to hitting it all!
With a special focus on “St. Louis Made,” Music at the Intersection pays homage to the city’s imprint on the American songbook, as well as the relationship St. Louis has with its Mississippi River roots. The festival aims to celebrate musical heritage, from the West African coasts to the Caribbean islands, up through the Mississippi Delta. Music at the Intersection honors the giants who shaped genre and sound – across blues, jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop and rock n’ roll – as it also calls up and gives platform to a new wave of artists.
Saturday September 14th
Black Pumas headline Saturday, and I’m excited to see them for the 1st time. They’re categorized as “psychedelic soul,” intriguing as is this popular video. I expect that I’m gonna get hooked enough to be up front when I’ll have my second chance to see them in October at Suwannee Hulaween!
Big Boi co-headlines and despite me being from Atlanta, his hometown, I haven’t seen his solo performance so I might catch some of his set as well depending on the set times and proximity of stages
Lettuce are modern day, funk royalty and for me one of the top acts to see every single time. They are simultaneously blazing their own trail while also paying homage to their lifelong heros like EWF, Tower of Power, Bootsy Collins and more. I plan on being front center for these guys.
Cimafunk is an amazing performer of AfroCuban funk. He’s got James Brown-like dance moves and energy a great voice and a funky as hell band including killer horns! I’ve caught him a couple of times, including just this month at Newport Jazz Festival, and know he’ll bring the house down.
Joe Russo’s Selcouth Quartet is an exceptional treat for this festival. I’ve been a fan of Joe’s since the early 2000s when he performed with the Benevento/Russo Duo which was really a mix of acid jazz and jazz fusion. Since the early 2010s, he’s been performing as Joe Russo’s Almost Dead (JRAD) and I’ve probably been at more than 10 festivals where they’ve played. Of course JRAD also features Marco Benevento as the keyboardist. The Selcouth Quartet brings Russo back to his roots with experimental jazz and I’m totally down for it.
Sunday September 15th
Chaka Khan truly is truly a legendary diva, and I’ve been a fan from the beginning back in her Rufus days. To this day, her Naughty album is one of my all time favorites. Despite that, I’ve never seen her live before so this will be a bucket list set for me and I’m so excited. And man she still got it — check out the Tiny Desk concert!
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are the new funk royalty of New Orleans. He’s come so far since I first saw him at Atlanta Jazz Festival 15 years ago (!) to the point where he now regularly closes out the epic NOLA Jazz fest. He’s an incredible entertainer, singer, trumpeter and trombonist and his band is amazing too. It’s a real wow factor that he’ll be bringing his modern funk to this fest.
Esperanza Spalding is one of the young lionesses of jazz today. She’s an amazing bassist and singer and I was fortunate to catch her at the first GroundUP Music Festival in 2017. Since then, she’s performed at the White House (see video) and around the world so this is another win for this great fest.
Samara Joy was one of the highlights of the Atlanta Jazz Festival 2023 and she was another artist at Newport Jazz Festival. However, I missed her at Newport due to a scheduling conflict so I definitely want to catch the Grammy-winning artist at this show. She’s one of the fast-rising, new generation of jazz singers and I look forward to this set and many more in the future!
Stanley Clarke is one of the most accomplished bassists of my lifetime, maybe ever. I first came to know him as the bass player in Return to Forever 50 years ago, then with his 1976 album “School Days”. He was also at Newport Jazz Fest but I missed him so now I have another chance to cross another one off my bucket list – seeing him live for the first time!
Keyon Harrold was an artist at GroundUP Music Festival 2023 and I was very impressed with his day and night sets. He’s is a first-call artist with feature credits with Keith Richards, Black Pumas, Mac Miller (Stay), and Nas (The Jarreau of Rap) and Harrold’s latest collaboration with UK crooner Samm Henshaw ( Still Broke). As a local talet, he is the new Artistic Advisor for Jazz St.Louis and is an activist for social justice and equality. He and the team have put together a tremendous fest lineup and I’m grateful for all of his work!
There’s a ton more artists to check out and I’m gonna try to hit a few more, time and energy permiting, and will potentially add to this festival primer as we get closer to the date