Salem Jazz and Soul Festival kicks off monthly concert series with Berklee Bob Marley

SALEM, Mass. - May 6, 2013 - PRLog -- The free show will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will feature an educational interview about Marley’s music and the Berklee College of Music experience.

Jenson, an assistant professor of piano at Berklee, has created a class titled “The Music and Life of Bob Marley,” which takes an in-depth study of the life of the reggae pioneer, “maintaining the utmost respect for the soulfulness of his music and for his message of love and resistance to oppression.”

This one-semester class consists of 15 auditioned singers and instrumentalists who come from around the world. In a lecture-demonstration format, Jenson takes the students on a biographical tour of Marley’s fascinating life, and then rigorously coaches the ensemble as they prepare for performances.

Those 15 musicians will entertain the crowd at the festival’s first Derby Square concert of 2013. The Lobster Shanty restaurant will sponsor the performance.

Three more SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concerts will take place this year: Mad Satta on June 8; Albino Mbie on July 13; and Nick Hakim on Aug. 10.

The seventh-annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will follow during the weekend of Aug. 17-18, featuring 12 bands, a kids’ tent, music-education tent, artisan fair and 21-plus beer pavilion. The two day concert is free.

The festival is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that produces free concerts and raises money for music education causes on the North Shore. Check http://www.salemjazzsoul.com for more information.