By Ted Drodozki
NASHVILLE, TN — Once again, the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, and its founder Lorenzo Washington, proved to be a dynamic axis of the community at the fourth annual Lorenzo Washington Day Gala held April 3 at the Maxwell House Hotel. The audience for the black-tie-and gown affair was a resplendent mix of musicians, visual artists, poets, writers, filmmakers, educators, clergy, activists, politicians, businesspeople, and others celebrating not only Washington and the Museum, but the rich, Black cultural history of Jefferson Street, Nashville, and the nation.
It was a very musical celebration, with artists spanning jazz, gospel, modern pop, and R&B on the stage and accepting awards, and it was also spiritual, with several speakers delivering messages appropriate to the promise of Good Friday, which was also April 3. The Nashville Black Music Association Jazz Band provided smooth jazz music during the reception and dinn zer.Plus, the Gala was multi-generational, with performers and honorees ranging from 36-year-old Grammy-nominee Devon Gilfillian, who performed a Jimi Hendrix-inspired number, to 91-year-old bass-singer Joseph Thompson, who was honored with the Living Legends Award along with his fellow members of the truly historic gospel quartet the Fairfield Four.
The Gala began in 2023, coinciding with a series of proclamations designating April 3 as Lorenzo Washington Day, in honor of his efforts to preserve the culture of Jefferson Street. Since then, Washington has also been honored with a display spotlighting his work at the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), and the Jefferson Street Sound Museum has received a Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the international Blues Foundation among other recognitions. This year, also celebrated at the Gala was the Museum’s recent designation as a location on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail—a high honor for the work of Washington, who is 83 this year, and Museum Vice President Karen Coffee. Coffee also produces the Gala.
After welcoming remarks from Coffee, the stage was taken by mistress of ceremonies Tuwanda Coleman Shaw, an Emmy-nominated producer-reporter and TV host who Nashville viewers recall from her 21 years anchoring NewsChannel 5’s “Talk of the Town.”
The night’s first performance, by Devon Gilfillian, was followed by Sista Strings, the violin-and-cello duo of real-life sisters Chauntee and Monique Ross, who appeared with Brandi Carlisle in February at the Super Bowl and are now on an arena and theater tour with that Grammy winner. Visual artist Elisheba Isreal Mrozik, presented Washington with an original portrait whose picture was on this year’s Gala program.
Kelvin Williams, The Poet, gave an uplifting recitation of If This House Could Talk. His strong evocation of Jefferson Street’s Black history and community received a standing ovation.
Dr. Leorotha Williams, a member of the Sound Museum’s board, spoke on how music and Civil Rights activism on Jefferson Street impacted the world topic that captures the essential message of the Museum.
And then 86-year-old musician Lucius “Spoonman” Talley gave the crowd a lesson in how to play the spoons (a ribboned pair of the utensils was available at every seat), packed with good humor and rhythm.
Next came the Historic Jefferson Street Star Awards. This year’s honorees were dynamic blues singer Tina Brown, internationally recognized countertenor and educator Patrick Dailey, and world-renown A-list vocal group the McCrary Sisters, who have worked in virtually every genre of music, with the likes of Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and T-Bone Burnett. The award was especially poignant for the McCrarys, whose father was a founder of the legendary gospel group the Fairfield Four as well as their guiding light, because the Fairfield Four were this year’s recipients of the Historic Jefferson Street Living Legend Award.
The group—whose current members are Joseph Thompson, Levert Allison, Larrice Byrd Sr., and Bobbye Sherrell—is in its 105th year and remains one of the leading proponents of the jubilee style of gospel song.
The night’s concluding entertainment, Michael “Papa’ Turney’s Juke Joint Allstars, the house band at his well-loved Papa Turney’s Barbecue/Miss Zeke’s Juke Joint venue on the shore of Nashville’ s Percy Priest Lake. Last year, Michael and Irene Turney were given the Historic Jefferson Street Star Award.
The Jefferson Street Sound Museum is a 501(c)3 non-profit founded at 2004 Jefferson Street in 2011 by Lorenzo Washington. It is committed to preserving the musical, cultural, and Civil Rights legacy of Jefferson Street and beyond. Visit jefferson-streetsound.com to support the Museum and learn more.
