Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, producer/songwriters extraordinaire, have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now it’s time for their hometown to get to know them as performers.
Jam and Lewis will appear Sunday with four other musicians, two backup singers and guest vocalists at the Taste of Minnesota in downtown Minneapolis.
“It’s kind of a fun storytelling-meets-concert format,” said Jam, who essayed a similar show at the 2023 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. “Think of us as a virtual jukebox of memories. We’ll play a cross-section of things that are relevant to the fans and relevant to us and also music that was heavily made in Minnesota. As Terry always says, you can’t have the funk without fun. So we’re definitely going to have some fun.”
There will be surprise singers but Janet Jackson, Jam and Lewis’ signature artist, won’t be one of them.
“It won’t be that big of a surprise,” Jam said this week from Los Angeles. “She’s got her own tour going.”
They might collaborate, however, with Morris Day & the Time, who are scheduled right after Jam and Lewis.
“I certainly hope so,” said Jam, who last performed with Day five years ago at the Soul Train Awards. “It’s kind of tough to put us all in the same place and not have us get together. We’ve had conversations.”
Jam and Lewis last performed in Minneapolis with the Time in 2018 when they curated a series of performances on the Nicollet Mall in conjunction with the Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium.