Nothing says New Orleans like Christmas in Tremé. The spirit of an intimate holiday concert at one of the city’s humble, historical churches with a handful of New Orleans jazz greats is simply incomparable. This Friday, December 20, contemporary jazz drummer Joe Dyson and friends have organized a special show of this very nature at Holy Faith Temple to help raise funds for the church’s community service programs.
Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. headlines Friday's Christmas in Treme concert.
Located at 1325 Governor Nicholls Street in Treme, just around the corner from the famed St. Augustine Catholic Church and up the block from the New Orleans African American Museum, the Holy Faith Temple is known as “The Tremé Church.” For decades, Holy Faith has served the surrounding neighborhood in meaningful ways, impacting the hearts and lives of many local people, including some of the musicians that have organized to play Friday’s special benefit concert.
The “Christmas in Tremé” concert will feature Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr., Davell Crawford, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah, Stephanie Jordan and The Bridge Trio featuring Joe Dyson. The Holy Faith Temple’s own Praise Team will also perform. In addition to the opportunity to hear Harrison Jr. and Crawford in this intimate setting, the concert also provides a chance to experience two of New Orleans’ rising young modern jazz artists. Now splitting their time between their hometown and New York City, Christian Scott and Dyson’s Bridge Trio are not around New Orleans as often as we might like them to be, making Friday’s concert with them both all that more special. Jordan (daughter of Kidd Jordan) is one of the city’s favorite vocalists, having recently been invited to perform in Washington, D.C. for President Obama. Several of the evening’s musicians, like Dyson and Scott, are also longtime students of Harrison’s New Jazz School, now alumni giving back.
Funds raised at Friday’s concert will support the community programs of the Holy Faith Temple. These programs include their Educational Enrichment Summer Camp, After School Tutorial Program, Senior Citizen Computer Literacy Program, Food and Grocery Outreach Ministry, and Social Service and Case Management Outreach Ministry.
Christmas in Tremé jazz concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 20 at the Holy Faith Temple Baptist Church (1325 Governor Nicholls St). Doors are at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are a suggested $10 donation.
