Macy Gray, Dinner Party, Snarky Puppy Highlight Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series’ Impressive February Lineup

If it’s really true that when “it rains, it pours” the music forecast for the month of February is a deluge of ticket-worthy concerts for local music fans. Held over the course of two consecutive weekends in St. Augustine at the historical-site venue that bears its name, the fourth annual Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series features a total of seven performances by a truly impressive roster, including pioneering R&B and funk group Tower of Power, contemporary-jazz supergroup Dinner Party, iconic R&B vocalist Macy Gray and more. Six shows are now confirmed and the headliner for Friday, February 7 is to be determined.

Since its inception in 2022, Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series has presented a series of notable concerts while increasing awareness of the historic site while supporting the Fort Mose Historical Society. Founded in 1738, Fort Mose was the first legally sanctioned free African settlement in what is now the United States. The Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series has raised more than $129,000 and the 1738 Fort Mose reconstruction project is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Tickets for the 2024 Fort Mose Jazz & Blues Series are on sale this Friday, December 6 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased here.

The confirmed artists scheduled to appear at this year’s festival includes:

Snarky Puppy

Thursday, February 6

Five-time Grammy Award winners Snarky Puppy formed in Texas in 2004, boasting a 20-strong revolving membership that makes the musical collective fierce live performers, and favorites of both the contemporary jazz and jam band scenes. 

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Tower of Power

Saturday, February 8

Pioneering R&B and funk band Tower of Power formed in 1968 in the Bay Area in the same scene that spawned the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane, opting for tight horn-section and rhythmic groove over tie-dyed jams. Their song “What Is Hip?” is a primer of ‘60s funk and the band continues to deliver the goods in concert. 

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Dinner Party featuring Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, and Kamasi Washington

Friday, February 14

A veritable jazz supergroup, Dinner Party features multi-instrumentalist and superproducer (of acts like Kendrick Lamar, Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg, among others) Terrace Martin, Grammy-winning pianist Robert Glasper and saxophonist Kamasi Washington; their tasty 2020 release featuring the single “Freeze Tag” offers a sampler of their winning pan-genre soul/hip-hop/jazz merger. 

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Macy Gray 

Saturday, February 15

Vocalist-actress Macy Gray won a Grammy Award on the strength of her 1999 hit “I Try,” has found a second career as an actor and continues to be a soul and R&B favorite on the strengths of her Billie Holiday-tinged vocal style.

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The Dirty Dozen Brass Band with openers Sierra Green and The Giants

Sunday, February 16

The festival winds down in a raucous, spirited way with performances by two ensembles from New Orleans. Formed in 1977, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are longtime ambassadors of the horn-driven sounds of the Crescent City. The new generation of the city is represented by Sierra Green and The Giants, led by soulful vocalist Green and a whip-sharp band of up-and-coming New Orleans players.