By Janice Malone
NASHVILLE, TN — The National Museum of African-American Music Legends Luncheon took place last Friday, (June 20th) at the Wild Horse Saloon. It was a perfect event to mark the conclusion of African-American Music Appreciation Month 2014.
Hosted by Grammy Award soul music legend Al Bell, the luncheon was filled with an array of attendees, ranging from music fans to local socialites, and those from the corporate and private business sector.
The event was held in collaboration with the Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership (JUMP) and the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM). The shared purpose of the luncheon was to celebrate music legends and showcase the soon-to-open NMAAM institution that will celebrate American culture as told through African-American music.
The Legends Luncheon provided an extension of the conversations from NMAAM’s successful My Music Matters campaign. This campaign provides a platform where local and national leaders and influencers can discuss the impact that African-American music has had on them as an individual as well as the ways that Black music has shaped the musical landscape of the United States. “We could have never imagined the impact that the My Music Matters campaign would have on the local and national levels. I’m glad to announce this partnered event with JUMP. I believe that this event will increase overall awareness of the contributions that African-Americans have made to music worldwide, and in the region,” said Henry Beecher Hicks III, president and CEO of NMAAM.
The event honored African-American music and art icons including Moses Leonard, Jr., Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones, Kirk Whalum, Denise LaSalle, and The Bar-Kays.
Moses Leonard, Jr., who was a guitarist who went by the stage name of Leonard Moses, performed with a younger Jimi Hendrix and Billy Cox at The Jolly Roger, in Nashville, and at various other locations on the “chitlin-circuit.”
Dr. Bobby Jones, Ambassador to the Bahamas, is a Grammy Award–winning gospel musician, television host, and executive producer of several cable television’s gospel music programs.
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