Relatives of renowned jazz musician Jimmie Lunceford to reunite in Tupelo

Jun. 14—TUPELO — Family of a famed saxophonist and bandleader whose roots run deep through Northeast Mississippi will gather to honor their family's history this Juneteenth weekend.

Relatives of Jimmie Lunceford, a groundbreaking jazz musician from the red hills of Itawamba County, will celebrate their storied family legacy this Saturday, June 17, in downtown Tupelo. Four elder members of the Lunceford family, all distant cousins, will gather in Fairpark for a family portrait before sharing a meal together during a private event at Park Heights restaurant.

The reunion, which falls on Juneteenth weekend — a holiday celebrating the day Union soldiers arrived in Texas to announce President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in the U.S. — is themed around honoring family legacies. Organizers feel it's an appropriate motif for a family whose history in the United States began in shackles. Lunceford's paternal grandparents arrived in Itawamba County as slaves in the 1840s.

"My idea of a family reunion is to learn your history, not just to eat," said Janice Burns, a Lunceford relative and the coordinator for the reunion.

The four elders are first cousins once removed from the famous jazz saxophone player, who was born in the Evergreen community of Itawamba County, near Fulton. Lunceford spent most of his youth in Denver, Colorado, where he also studied music under Wilberforce Whiteman and became proficient in all reed instruments.

Lunceford made his way to Fisk University to continue his music studies while also playing in a band with Andy Kirk.

Eventually, the musician began teaching at Manassas High School in Memphis, where he established himself eventually as the first public school band director in Memphis.

At the same high school, Lunceford gathered talented students and eventually transformed them into the famed swing band of the 1930s, the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra.

Even when Lunceford himself moved to Denver, much of his family stayed in Mississippi.

Known as the "King of Syncopation," Lunceford was famous for using a distinct, two-beat rhythm style of instrumentation, known popularly as the "Lunceford Style," rather than the traditional four-beat found in most swing compositions. Although his band isn't nearly as well known, Lunceford's orchestra is considered by many jazz music historians as every bit the equal of greats, like those led by Count Basie or Duke Ellington.

Famous songs from the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra include "Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam)," "Lunceford Special," "Muddy Water (A Mississippi Moan)" "Blues in the Groove," "Stratosphere" and "Uptown Blues."

Lunceford died in July 1947 after suffering a coronary occlusion at the age of 45. He was buried in Memphis. In 2009, the city dedicated a brass note in his honor along the Beale Street Walk of Fame.

In 2011, the Mississippi Department of Transportation erected a marker along the Mississippi Blues Trail in Lunceford's honor, placed near Playgarden Park in downtown Fulton.

Abrielle is a news intern for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at abrielle.carnathan@journalinc.com.