Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will make their debut as a performing duo at Taste of Minnesota

Their group will feature guest singers on Sunday, possibly including ex-bandmate Morris Day.

By Jon Bream Star Tribune

July 4, 2024 — 6:00am

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.

For Sunday, invitations have been extended to familiar names, including Jesse Johnson and Monte Moir, who joined Jam, Lewis, Day, Jerome Benton and Jellybean Johnson as original members of the Time.

The Time was organized and produced by Prince in 1981, scoring such hits as "Cool," appearing in 1984′s "Purple Rain" and reuniting for 1990′s "Graffiti Bridge" movie. Jam and Lewis weren't along for all the Purple activities, though, because Prince fired them from the Time in 1983 after they missed a gig while stranded in Atlanta producing a recording session.

Jam and Lewis went on to an unrivaled career as producers and songwriters working with Mariah Carey, Usher, Human League, George Michael, Boyz II Men, Jackson and others, collecting 16 No. 1 pop hits and five Grammys, among many accolades.

Their Taste of Minnesota concert will be filmed for possible inclusion in a documentary on the Minneapolis-launched behind-the-scenes music makers. An independent project, it is being executive-produced by Peter Afterman ("It Might Get Loud," "Get on Up") and directed by Jason King, dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, who teaches a class on Jam and Lewis. The Minnesotans have worked with Afterman on other music film projects, including those on the Isley Brothers as well as Philadelphia studio hitmakers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell.

"We're really excited about doing it," Jam said of the doc. "This [Taste of Minnesota appearance] will be one of the first major pieces we're doing besides some interview footage. It will be a major piece of the puzzle because it ties together our foundation, where we started, with what we plan in the future."

Taste adds a fourth stage

After relocating to downtown Minneapolis last year following a brief run in Waconia and a long tenure at St. Paul's Harriet Island, Taste of Minnesota is expanding musically this year. The two-day food-and-music event has added a fourth stage and moved the stages to avoid sound bleeding.

But the main stage remains at 3rd Street and Nicollet Mall, opposite the public library and Four Seasons Hotel. Last year, there were acoustic challenges because of sound bouncing off the glass windows of these buildings.

"The acoustics downtown are something I'm sensitive to as a musician," said Teke O'Reilly, Taste of Minnesota's community ambassador. "It's always going to be bouncy for the main stage with how large it is and how vast the area is."

He thinks the situation will be improved over last year because food trucks that were adjacent to the stage in 2023 have been relocated.

"I think it'll be a warmer and wider crowd and a little softer on that angle," O'Reilly said. "What's really nice is the distance between the four stages; none of them will have any overlap."

The main stage will feature the Wallflowers and Martina McBride on Saturday, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as well as Morris Day & the Time on Sunday.

The jazz stage will showcase Aja Parham and LA Buckner & Big Homie, among others.

The stage for local musicians has lined up Jordan Johnston, Vicki Dischler and more.

The roster on the singer-songwriter stage includes Yev Yelena and Joan of Profile.

Festivals, orchestras are next

Taste of Minnesota isn't the only performance on the horizon for Jam and Lewis. They are booked for eight club shows in Japan in late July and next year they hope to perform at festivals, including Glastonbury in England.

And they are exploring playing their music with symphony orchestras.

"When Terry and I looked at our career, that's one of those things that we haven't done yet," Jam said. "I don't think we want the [orchestra] show to be dependent on guest stars. We want it to be its own cohesive show. With some storytelling of the songs, putting some history into it. Because we come from a behind-the-scenes world."