30 YEARS OF JAZZ

Sweet Lizzy Project Photo by Alejandro Menéndez-Vega

For the first time, the Benjamin Russell High School Band will open this year’s Jazz Fest concert in Strand Park on Friday, Aug. 7, with selections from this year’s show, Rhapsody on a Bad Romance. The band’s 2020 repertoire includes music by Queen, Bruno Mars, George Gershwin, Lady Gaga and others.

“We wanted to showcase our own. We’re very proud of the Benjamin Russell Pride Band, and we wanted to let them shine,” said Ed Collari, CEO and president of the Alexander City Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the free twoday concert series.

This year’s concert, originally scheduled for June, was postponed and rescheduled for the second weekend in August

due to the coronavirus pandemic. Collari urged concertgoers to take responsibility for their own safety and that of others in regards to health and welfare during the event.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the music series that began when Frohsin’s Department Store treated the community to an outdoor concert to celebrate its 100th birthday.

Following the Pride of BRHS, Tragic City will take the mid-stage on Friday night, followed by headliner Sweet Lizzy Project, a Cuban band featuring lead singer Lisset Diaz.

An instrumental sextet from Birmingham, Tragic City blends elements of funk, jazz, hip-hop and rock to create a sound uniquely its own. The band includes Will Cash,

Benjamin High School Pride Band

Alexander City's signature event turns 30

STORYBY BETSY ILER

Tragic City Band

Tommy Bowen, Desmond Sykes, Martin Castor, CJ Griffith and Michael Laton and has played alongside The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Tim Lefebvre, Flow Tribe and Miss Mo and others, promising great chemistry and never a dull moment. Check out their Facebook page at Tragic City Band to preview their progressive music.

Then, hold on for the intoxicating Latino flair of Sweet Lizzy Project, a band known for its high-energy performances, featuring all original songs penned in English and appealing to a wide range of ages and genre.

SLP has toured regularly with The Mavericks and was featured on the PBS Emmy Award-winning television series, Bluegrass Underground. Originating in Cuba, the group turned an apartment into a sound music studio to record music because no other option existed. Their second album, Technicolor, was recently completed in Nashville.

Friday night gets started at 6 p.m. in Strand Park, but the music continues Saturday evening at Lake Martin Amphitheater with three more bands to top off a great weekend at Alex City Jazz Fest. Visit alexcityjazzfest.com for Saturday’s lineup, T-shirt sales and more.

Sponsors for Jazz Fest 2020 include Russell Lands On Lake Martin, Russell Medical, Lake Martin Dock Company, Lee Marketing Group, Ralph Frohsin, Lake Broadcasting, Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc., C&T Electric, Gunn Homes and Land, Lake Martin Painting and MainStreet Alexander City.