The spirit of Farish Street in the ’50s and ’60s is evoked at the Alamo Theatre on the third Friday of each month when The Musicians take the stage for the Jazz, Blues, and More concert series, now in its fourth year. The Musicians’ broad repertoire ranges from jazz standards to soul classics; on their most recent program, songs included Bobby Bland’s “Further Up The Road,” Junior Parker’s “Next Time You See Me” and Marvin Gaye’s “Pride and Joy.”
Jazzman and music educator Sherrill Holly leads The Musicians. “Our main purpose is to keep the Alamo going,” says Holly, who plays tenor and soprano sax. “That’s why we also do children’s shows, to introduce them to the historic district and to expose them to jazz, blues, and music that they don’t hear on the radio.”
The group also features his brother, Bernard “Bubba” Holly, on bass. The Hollys grew up on the 300 block of Farish Street, recorded as session men for Trumpet Records, and over the years have played in various jazz groups as well as in the Joe Dyson and Duke Huddleston orchestras, the leading dance bands in Jackson from the ’40s through the ’60s. Saxophonist Louis Lee writes the group’s sophisticated arrangements; he led the Utica-based Mighty Upsetters Dance Band for more than 30 years; Reese Powell, the guitarist for The Musicians, is a veteran of the group. Lead singer Bobby Smith is a Canton native who occasionally works with Jesse Robinson’s Knee Deep Band, and filling out the group are drummer Willie Silas, also a veteran of the Joe Dyson orchestra, and keyboardist Nathan Hunter, a minister of music. The group also uses guest vocalists including Angela Walls-Gray, Pamela Confer and Sonya Powe.
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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.
