Tony Vacca in concert with bassist Avery Sharpe at The Springfield Jazz Fest

Saturday: 3:50 PM on the Charles Neville Main Stage. 

Details at: https://springfieldjazzfest.com/2023-schedule/

Avery Sharpe’s project, “400 An African American Musical Portrait” was recorded in 2018 for its 2019 release on JKNM Records. Sharpe decided to mark the 400th year of Africans being brought to the US shores in Virginia in 1619 as enslaved people with a musical portrait/recording.

The project was originally conceived for a small choir and Avery’s sextet. To help commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival, Avery has combined his group and his Extended Family Choir with members of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Chorus, to bring about an unbelievable collaboration for the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival. Sharpe has expanded the compositions and added instrumentation, to express 400 in the most powerful way possible.