Check out these blues, jazz and folk art events this weekend at festivals in Macon

There’s music in the air across Macon Saturday with not one but two free outdoor events: the first-ever All Blues Music and Arts Revival and the 20th Jazz and Arts on Riverdale.

Music starts at 1 p.m. at the All Blues Music and Arts Revival at Mill Hill Park off Coliseum Drive at 239 Clinton St. The event is presented by the All Blues Cultural Preservation Society, Visit Macon and the Macon-Bibb County Bicentennial Committee.

“There’s a strong connection between blues music and Macon and its history and culture,” said John Mollica. Also known as Johnny Mo, Mollica is the event’s producer-promoter and a known area folk artist and music lover.

“Yeah, there’s the blues connection to Macon and there’s a big connection between blues music and folk art – they go together,” he said. “Both grew out of the lives and experiences of common people, usually the less trained, self-taught artist or musician with things being a bit looser. It’s not made for commercial ambition or significance and not for the Metropolitan Museum of Art crowd in New York.”

He went to to say that creating blues music or folks art is often something people are driven to do.

“ You know, it’s what God put you here to do,” Mollica said. “You want to create and connect with people, with common, working, everyday people. It ties to the backbone of America and to Macon.”

Mollica said the event’s location connects it to Macon’s past: it borders the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park and is in Mill Hill, Macon’s original neighborhood and future site of Macon’s Bicentennial Park.

“We want to honor the Indigenous roots of the land and history of East Macon neighborhoods,” Mollica said. “And we’re making the All Blues Music and Arts Revival free so everybody can enjoy the art and music. As an official bicentennial event, there’s also going to be a reveal of park plans to donors of the $200 for 200 Campaign that’s helping finance its build.”

Headlining at about 6 p.m. is Grammy-nominated and Blues Hall of Fame member Bettye LaVette. Singer-songwriter LaVette began her recording career at 16 and now, at 77, is touring in support of her latest studio album, “LaVette!,” and single, “Plan B.”

Arkansas blues revivalist Larry McCray also headlines and the energetic Grammy-nominated brass-band-meets-Mardi Gras Indian outfit Cha Wa opens the day at 1 p.m.

There will be two stages so the music will be continuous and include other acts like Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Duo-Sonic, Brotha’ Ric Patton, R.L Boyce with Lightnin’ Malcolm, Little Willie Farmer and Piedmont Blūz Acoustic Duo featuring country blues music and Piedmont-style fingerpicking ambassadors Valerie and Benedict Turner.

Folk artist’s work from across the Southeast will be on display and there will be a children’s art zone where kids can paint on a wall which will be kept and used at future events. Food trucks will be on hand, Satterfield’s Barbecue available, beer a-plenty and a recreation of a juke joint-style bar set up for wine and spirits.

Gates open at noon and music runs until 11 p.m.

More information about the day, Macon200 and Mollica are at www.allbluescps.org, www.macon200.com and www.bluesweetness.com.

Jazz on the other side of town

With blues on one side of town, there’s jazz in mid-town with folk art a bridge between them. Macon folk artist Rhonda “Sunshine” Miller’s work will be featured at Saturday’s 20th annual Jazz and Arts on Riverdale while music is made by headlining guests Wycliffe Gordon and Friends. Others include the Mose Davis Quartet and the JAM (Jazz Association of Macon) Ambassadors.

Put on by the Jazz Association of Macon and Neighbors of Riverdale Drive, Jazz and Arts of Riverdale is the area’s largest block party and happens along a closed section of Riverdale Drive between Ridge and Overlook avenues. Admission is free with music playing and the street lined with local artists and makers from noon until 6 p.m.

Silent auctions, a kid’s activities area and a VIP lounge with free food and drink for Jazz Association of Macon Cotton Club members are also set.

Wycliffe Gordon is a former member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. His arrangement of the theme song for NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily worldwide.

In addition to Gordon performing Saturday, he will serve as Jazz Association of Macon Artist in Residence and present a master class in the coming year for middle and high school students.

Mose Davis was classically trained at the Detroit Conservatory of Music and is a permanent fixture of the Atlanta music scene. Though he moves freely between acoustic piano, synthesizers and electric keyboards, his all-time love is the Hammond organ.

Extending the annual jazz and art event, the association is adding a Sunday jazz brunch at Churchill’s on Cherry from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. featuring music by the Ritmo Soul Bunch. A prix fixe buffet menu is $30 per person with reservations required on a first come, first served basis.

Not only is Jazz and Art on Riverdale in its 20th year, the years have been filled with the jazz association’s ongoing work to present jazz to the community and foster its appreciation in public schools. Funds raised at the festival through the sale of posters, T-shirts, auctions and vendor fees support the group’s ongoing scholarship programs providing tuition assistance for area music students from middle school to college.

Scholarship applications, more information on the association and Saturday and Sunday’s events can be found at www.maconjazz.org. More on Miller and her artwork is at www.instagram.com/art_ate_her.

More to do

And there’s more to get out and about for this weekend. Here are a few leads:

-Friday: Ocmulgee Artist Guild’s “Dysphoria: Into the Wild” is a fine art exhibit and art party, 6 p.m.-11.59 p.m., at 391 2nd St. It’s a fine art exhibit, sale and art party celebrating “sensory aspects of the light and dark sides of nature that surrounds us.” It’s free to attend and masks and costumes are encouraged. https://www.facebook.com/ocmulgeeartistguild

-Friday: Wesleyan College’s East Gallery, Porter Fine Arts Building opens an exhibit by Dominican-born, Miami-based, multidisciplinary artist Charo Oquet. Her work encompasses installations and sculpture, research, mentorship, curation and multi-media and interdisciplinary practice embodying the idea of “Radical Optimism” while investigating political and spiritual structures underlying contemporary urban culture. The college is at 4760 Forsyth Rd.

-Friday-Sunday: 16th Central Georgia Greek Festival at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, 859 1st St. Come for authentic Greek food, pastries and drinks, church tours, music, dance, art, crafts, religious items and more. www.holycrossga.org/greek-festival

-Saturday: Centerville Fall Festival, 103 E Church St., Centerville. Come for more than 60 craft and food vendors, local school and dance groups, a kid zone with face painting, balloon animals, activity sheets, bubbles galore and magic shows. Music is from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. featuring Jacob Davis and Friends. Bring lawn chairs and blankets; the event is free.

-Sunday: Classics at the Bibb: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” sponsored by NewTown Macon, Macon Film Festival and Downtown Macon at 455 3rd St. Festivities begin at 7 p.m. for a classic film at one of Macon’s historic movie theaters. Closed for 40-plus years, the theater’s marquee lights will again be turned on and then the movie projected onto the theater’s fa?ade for viewing from Third Street Park. Bring a chair or blanket. Free. www.facebook.com/ntmacon

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at [email protected].