Salem Jazz and Soul Festival kicks off their SJSF/Berklee Summer Series at Derby Square, Salem

SALEM, Mass. - April 29, 2015 - PRLog -- The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will begin its 2015 SJSF/Berklee Summer Series in Derby Square, Salem, on Saturday, May 9, with a concert featuring The Yellowjackets, a band made up of current Berklee College of Music students.

The free show will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. and will feature an educational interview about music and the Berklee experience.

The Lobster Shanty restaurant will sponsor the performance.

The Berklee Yellowjackets Ensemble is a sought-after band led by Dave Weigert (drums), a professor in the Ensemble Department. They play the repertoire of the world-renowned Yellowjackets, one of the few jazz bands that has been together for over 30 years. The students—bassist Elin Margareta Sandberg (Sweden), tenor and alto saxophonist Andrew Denicola (Stamford, Connecticut),
guitarist Lior Tzemach (Ramat Gan, Israel), and piano synth player Zak Leever (San Francisco, California)—are highly motivated, dedicated, and accomplished musicians.

The selected Yellowjackets repertoire that the ensemble will play is funk oriented and groove based with beautiful, soaring, and expressive melodies and rich harmonies. Audience members will be treated to an uplifting and inspiring performance.

Three more SJSF/Berklee Summer Series concerts will take place this year: Marika Galea on June 13; Beneil Miller on July 11; and Chuks Okpu on Aug. 8.

The ninth-annual Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will follow during the weekend of Aug. 15-16, featuring 10 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 salemjazzsoul.org for more information. Photos provided upon request.