Two-day jazz and soul festival at Salem Willows this weekend

SALEM – The 2014 Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Salem Willows.The two-day concert will feature performances by 10 bands from around New England and New York.The free festival will also include a music-education tent, a family tent, a 21-plus beer pavilion and more than 30 local artisans selling hand-crafted goods. It will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days.The Salem High School jazz band will open Saturday’s concert, followed by Pocket Money Orchestra, Amadee Castenell, and Moon Hooch. Delta Generators will headline Saturday.Sunday will open with the North Shore Jazz Project All-Stars, followed by Cape Ann Big Band, Liquid Revolution, and the Frotations. Alissia Benveniste and the Funketeers, a 15-person funk band made up of Berklee College of Music students, will headline Sunday.DJ Radio Scotvoid will spin between sets, and Aurelia Nelson of North Shore 104.9 will emcee, along with festival co-founder Henley Douglas Jr.Salem Trolley will offer an affordable shuttle to the festival, which will stop regularly at the National Parks Service Visitors Center on Essex Street, the Salem Ferry Landing on Blaney Street and the Bentley School, 25 Memorial Drive, where there will be additional parking.Also, Mahi Mahi Cruises and Charters will ferry audience members from Pickering Wharf to the Willows all day, for a reasonable fee.The festival encourages audience members to walk, ride bicycles or take the trolley to the Salem Willows, as parking will be limited.The festival is a a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to producing free concerts and supporting music-education causes on the North Shore of Massachusetts.For more information about the Salem Jazz and Soul organization, please visit www.salemjazzsoul.org or email [email protected].