After shutting down during the quarantine era, Memphis Public Libraries are bringing back the popular Five Fridays of Jazz series, and it kicks off tonight at 7 p.m., and will continue every Friday thereafter until May 7th. However, in a nod to the ongoing need for public health precautions, the series will not be held at the main library location, as in the past, but will be live-streamed for free on the Memphis Public Libraries Facebook page. It will also be free to watch on demand on Facebook for a limited time.
(Photo courtesy Memphis Public Libraries)
This year’s opening concert is “From the Twenties to the Twenties,” featuring Lisa Webb on piano, voice, and ukulele. Tune in for a journey through a century of music, as Webb takes listeners from Bessie Smith through Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and beyond, including her own jazz originals.
One new element being added to the series is a curated list of fiction and nonfiction book suggestions to tie in with the theme and era of each night. Readings salient to tonight’s online concert are listed here.
Five Fridays of Jazz is sponsored by the Memphis Library Foundation and presented in conjunction with Levitt Shell.