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Marcus Shelby Orchestra & HJF Freedom Jazz Choir

San Francisco bassist Marcus Shelby recently recorded a much-celebrated jazz suite called Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, featuring a 15-piece jazz orchestra. For a series of performances, including one at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, Shelby's opus will serve as the vehicle for a James Irvine Foundation grant that specifies the creation of a choir whose singers will come from the diverse communities of Sonoma County. The Healdsburg Jazz Festival Freedom Jazz Choir's purpose is to engage the public in the arts using music as a unifying force. Close to 150 people showed up for the first rehearsal of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival Freedom Jazz Choir. The singers, under the tutelage of Shelby and Adam Ivey, director of Santa Rosa's Joyous Noise Ensemble, will sing a variety of songs backed by the orchestra. The dynamic Ms. Faye Carol will be lead vocalist. The shows will feature original compositions from Soul of the Movement, plus spirituals and freedom songs that Shelby has arranged for the choir.