June is Black Music Month, and there should be no better place to celebrate it than in Music City, USA, right? So go out this weekend and get you some live music, and join in the celebration of the thing that gives us joy through rhythm and rhyme. As the month ends, your friends at local clubs such as Jazz and Jokes offer live music this final weekend of June.
WFSK, the radio station begun in the 1970s as WRFN (for ‘Radio Free Nashville’ and has now become the on-air voice of FSK, for its home, Fisk University) is celebrating 40 years of service to the community, both on the local airways and globally online. Jazz and Jokes, located at 174 3rd Ave. North, is helping out by hosting a weekend of great music, including a concert in memory of one of the great people who made WRFN/WFSK a solid Nashville radio tradition.
Jerry ‘Mouse’ Clark will be remembered for his outgoing personality, warm smile, devotion to teaching, and other facets of this multi-faceted fellow.
On Saturday, June 29, he will be remembered as a stalwart disc jockey and on-air personality for Fisk University’s radio station since its inception. A “Smooth Jazz Tribute to Nashville Legend Jerry ‘Mouse’ Clark” starring Joe Johnson and Friends will be held as Part II of the ‘Three Nights of Great Sax’ weekend, also serving as the 88.1 FM WFSK 40th Year Anniversary Concert Kickoff & Fundraiser. Johnson is a world-renowned #1 Billboard Jazz Recording Artist and co-owner of Jazz and Jokes and WKND Lounge on Church Street.
Fifty percent of the proceeds from this event will go to WFSK. The ‘WFSK Remembers Jerry the Mouse Clark Memorial Service’ will be held on Saturday July 13 in the Fisk University Memorial Chapel from 11 am to 1 pm. Jerry the Mouse Clark passed away Friday, May 24, 2013. Jerry hosted ‘Mellow Madness’ on WFSK on Saturday nights from 6-10 pm from 2005 until his passing. He had worked tirelessly behind the scenes at WRFN and later WFSK since 1978. He was a great man and total music lover.
Jazz superstar Gerald Albright will be featured Sunday, June 30 to close out Black Music Month with Part III of the ‘Three Nights of Great Sax’ weekend that kicks off Friday, June 28, with #1 Billboard Jazz recording artist Euge Groove. Each night there are two shows at 7 pm and 9:30 pm; $25 Friday; $15 Saturday; and $45 Sunday.
Other local venues offer ways to support live music in Nashville regularly, including Carol Ann’s Restaurant at 407 Murfreesboro Road and BB King’s on 2nd Ave. downtown. At Summer NAMM in July at Nashville’s Music City Center, the Grand Opening Party on Wednesday, July 10 features a ‘Nashville Tribute to Jimi Hendrix’ with the Billy Cox Band of Gypsies Experience and guests, as well as a special appearance by the legend’s sister Janie Hendrix for registered attendees and special invited guests.
