A Little Lunch Music is an informal performance presented by Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art and musician Patrick McCurry, series coordinator. You can sit and listen to the entire performance, dine in the Museum Café from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., browse the shop, or explore the galleries.

On February 18 from noon to 1:00 pm in the Auditorium, A Little Lunch Music will present the David Banks Gospel Jazz Ensemble performing a free concert. The concert is being sponsored by anonymous friends of the series.

From Dr. Banks:

Presenting the premier of the Gospel jazz production, “Silver Lining: Giving honor where honor is due, to the senior members of our society.” To be a member of “Silver Lining” you must be at least AARP qualified. You only get better with age. We intend to demonstrate the result of years of experience through singing, poetry, and musicianship refined over a period of time to an art form. There is nothing new under the sun. We also intend to demonstrate the relational origin of Gospel and jazz by way of musical intonation, vocal inspiration and jazz improvisation. Performing with Dr. Banks will be…

…on vocal instrument: Barbara Banks, Louisville Holstick, and Rose Washington
…on vocal instrument and spoken word: John Moore
…on the horns: Charles Cochrane, Saxophone; and Charlie Persons, Trumpet

Each member has well over 45 years of experience.

Pianist, composer and arranger David Banks blends the fervor of Gospel and the musical improvisation of jazz. Dr. Banks is a classically trained musician with over 45 years’ experience in musical styles including jazz, Gospel, R&B, country, and top-40. He has opened for or played with such greats as the Yellowjackets, Ramsey Lewis, BB King, Shirley Caesar, The Hawkins Singers, the Duke Ellington Orchestra (Mercer Ellington), Roy Ayres, the Bar-Kays, Maynard Ferguson, Eric Essix, Stanley Jordan and more. Dr. Banks is currently an assistant professor at Tuskegee University and is married to Barbara Banks. A 1999 Auburn University graduate, he served as course instructor, advisor and director of the AU Gospel Choir as a graduate student.