Top-notch musical performances, health education, Black authors, and youth activities are all part of the lineup in the free 12th-annual Bill Bell Jazz and Heritage Festival, happening Friday, August 21st and Saturday, August 22nd in Rock Island.
Presented by Polyrhythms, the event is named after renowned East Moline native Bill Bell, taking place at the MLK Center (630 9th St., Rock Island) and MLK Park across the street.
The schedule of events is:
Friday, August 21
- 5 p.m. – Reception
- 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. -- Black Authors Forum
- 8 p.m.-9 p.m. -- Nina Nichole Little Band (former 10 of Soul singer)
Saturday, August 22
- 12 noon -- Festival begins with vendors, book fair, drumming, dancing, DJ Charles Swift
- 1 p.m.-2 p.m. -- Youth Performances
- 2 p.m. -- Youth Activities
- 2 p.m. -- Prostate Cancer Forum inside King Center
- 3 p.m. -- Interactive Modern and Traditional African Dance/Movement with Taliah Thomas
Bands
- 4 p.m.-5 p.m. -- James Culver and The Kuchina Collective
- 5:30-7 p.m. -- Pippi and Daniel Music and the Experience Band
- 7:30-9 p.m. -- Erech Bruce Band
Organizer Shellie Moore Guy of Rock Island is among the prestigious Black Authors Forum, which features 22 local authors, all with a connection to the Quad Cities, some who come from out of town.
“It’s an opportunity for all the authors to, you know, get their work out there and also an opportunity to represent themselves as an author for the, for the community,” Guy (who’s written two children’s books) said. “You don't often see this many local authors in one space, and you especially, it's new to see this many Black authors in one space.”
“I think all of our presence, our presence is a motivator, and it says if I can write, you all can write as well,” she said. “It hasn't been an unusual occurrence for someone to have sat in the audience one year and then finished their own book by the next year.”
Guy (a former Quad City Poet Laureate) was inspired by Bill Bell (1936-2017), a celebrated jazz pianist and professor, to pen her first book, “How Billy Learned to Play.” The story was loosely based on the childhood of Bell, who grew up in the Watertown neighborhood of East Moline, and was published in 2019 by Midwest Writing Center Press.
In 2023, MWC Press published her children’s book, “The Family Tree.” It was inspired by Guy’s great-great grandfather, Charley Wilson, who settled in Rock Island in 1866 after the Civil war. The book tells the real-life story of Charley Wilson and Sandy Terry, two brothers who escaped slavery to join the Union Army to fight for the freedom of their people during the Civil War.
It tells how the brothers lived during slavery, how they escaped, and what they did during their time as soldiers, then their families as they settle following the war and how they and their descendants become important people in their new communities.
This is the third school year that “The Family Tree” has been integrated into the second-grade curriculum for Rock Island and Milan schools, which contains a unit on the Civil War. That’s given Guy tremendous satisfaction as a Black author.
“So it's just going to be a part of how they teach it. And I was just amazed. So it was their choice,” she said. “I didn't see 2nd grade as I was writing it, but they understood that it could be done. And boy, did they.”
In the book, Guy tells how Wilson was inspired to become a horse doctor and veterinarian. “I think that is the thing that we want to drive home, that, despite his circumstances and the family circumstances, despite all of that, he was able to raise a family and became a veterinarian in Port Byron,” she said.
At the Friday night forum, authors can read from their works and attendees can ask questions of them. On Saturday, authors can sell copies of their books at the festival.
Sharing health information
In the Bill Bell festival, Guy is also proud to feature vital health information as part of a health forum, this time focusing on prostate cancer. Past years have centered on high blood pressure, diabetes, lupus, sickle cell anemia, and mental health.
“We have a speaker coming from Waterloo, Iowa. She'll be the main speaker, but then we also have Reverend Samuel Hale, and he's a local pastor, local minister. He's at Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Moline. He is a prostate cancer survivor,” Guy said. “He is going to speak as well. So, we really, really want to get the word out about that.”
The main guest speaker is registered nurse Bridget Saffold, nationally known for her community-based education. She heads a statewide prostate cancer initiative called Project Health, in collaboration with University of Iowa Health Care. In Iowa and Illinois, prostate cancer is the number-one newly diagnosed cancer in men.
Nationally, the prostate cancer death rate is twice as high for Black men than the national average, but if it’s caught and treated early, it is 99% survivable, according to a festival flyer.
During these two days of the Bell Festival, you can take in great jazz and other genres of live music that appeal to young people through senior adults, Guy said. “The varying genres of music is the center piece of it all, but you’d also want to turn your attention toward wafting smells and foods from various Quad City small-business vendors.
"You also will hear moving stories and deep writing during the festival’s Black Authors Forum that features some of our best local writers. Then there’s the Youth Talent Showcase where excited kids and teens take their turn on stage and show off their talent—or what just moves them—for the crowd.”
The Bill Bell Jazz and Heritage Festival amplifies intergenerational connection, cultural pride and cultural legacy. For 2 days, a single festival transforms an empty space and a community center into a vibrant hub of artistic exchange, youth bravely performing publicly, writers speaking their voices and are being heard, and a community health component, she added.
For more information on Polyrhythms, which Guy founded with the late Nate Lawrence and includes the Third Sunday Jazz Series, visit polyrhythms.org.
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