The Take Me to the River All-Stars, featuring legendary New Orleans musicians, will bring soulful sounds to Springfield's Hope Center for the Arts this Friday. The concert serves as a fundraiser for the free Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival. Inspired by a 2022 documentary, the event honors musical traditions and local ties.
On Friday at 7 p.m., the Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield will host the Take Me to the River All-Stars, a ensemble blending funk, R&B, brass-band energy, soul, and Mardi Gras Indian traditions. Co-presented by Blues to Green and the venue, the performance benefits the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival, which remains free and community-focused.
"This is the first year we are holding a fundraiser entirely for the Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival which is a free event accessible to the community, but we do need support to keep it that way," said Kristin Neville, festival producer and executive director of Blues to Green.
The group draws from the 2022 documentary 'Take Me to the River: New Orleans,' directed by Martin Shore and filmed in 2017. It premiered on April 20, 2022, at the Broadside Theater in New Orleans, with a digital release in 2023 and a soundtrack album that same year. Performers include Cyril Neville with his son Omari and nephew Ian Neville, Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr., Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Robert Mercurio, Joe Ashlar, Brian Richburg Jr., and Shore himself.
"It was the last time the Neville Brothers performed together," Cyril Neville noted about the album.
The concert stems from collaboration between Neville and Kyle Homstead, an educator at the Hope Center. It ties into the Blues to Green Legacy Education Project, which uses music to teach history and literature in Springfield and Holyoke schools. The event also pays tribute to Charles Neville, Cyril's late brother, who lived in Western Massachusetts, performed at the festival, and appears in the film.
Blues to Green promotes cultural heritage and justice through events like this. Tickets cost $45 for general admission or $100 for Donor Circle, which includes front-row seats and a meet-and-greet. They are available at hopecenterforthearts.org.