SOULstice: Jazz,
Soul, & Sankofa

A community-centered performance series celebrating Black musical lineage through jazz, soul, storytelling, and diasporic musical traditions.

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What is SOULstice?

SOULstice creates intimate, community-centered live music experiences that celebrate and re-center Black musical traditions across the diaspora through jazz, soul, and R&B, bringing culturally rooted performances into accessible spaces in Providence.

Grounded in the Sankofa philosophy, SOULstice invites audiences and artists alike to look to the past—honoring lineage, culture, and origin—in order to feel more connected, inspired, and rooted in the present.

At its core, SOULstice is an offering of community-based care through cultural expression.

Why SOULstice?

The name SOULstice draws inspiration from the summer solstice,

a moment associated across cultures with cycles, transition, reflection, and renewal.

SOULstice imagines music as a gathering point where memory meets possibility, where communities come together, and where the wisdom of the past can help shape the future. Through jazz, soul, storytelling, and diasporic musical traditions, the series creates space for people to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the cultural lineages that continue to shape our lives.

The SOULstice Seven

Cultural Re-Centering

Re-establishing Blackness as the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and diasporic musical traditions through intentional curation and storytelling.

Community Bridging

Connecting distinct musical communities in Providence that do not often intersect, fostering collaboration and shared experience.

Accessible Arts Programming

Connecting distinct musical communities in Providence that do not often intersect, fostering collaboration and shared experience.

Artist-Centered Experience

Creating performance environments where musicians can prioritize creativity, expression, and meaningful connection over transactional pressures.

Intergenerational Engagement

Cultivating spaces where Black youth, elders, and broader community members can gather, connect, and see themselves reflected.

Place-Based Cultural Activation

Activating Providence-based locations as sites of cultural exchange, reflection, and community presence through consistent, recurring programming.

Spiritual and Emotional
Connection

Fostering joy, grounding, and collective presence through intentional, soul-centered experiences.

At Its Core...

SOULstice is an offering of community-based care through cultural expression.

The Summer 2026 Series

SOULstice: Jazz, Soul, & Sankofa is supported in part through the

City of Providence's Ely Neighborhood Performing Arts Fund.

Partners include:

City of Providence | Providence Parks | Providence Arts, Culture & Tourism |

Partnership for Providence Parks (P3) | Ely Neighborhood Performing Arts Fund

Diasporic Roots
July 18, 2026 5:00–6:30 PM
Billy Taylor Park
Providence, RI

Youth. Opportunity. Community.

Billy Taylor Park reflects themes of youth empowerment, neighborhood connection, accessibility, and collective care.

Jazz Continuum
August 22, 2026 5:00–6:30 PM
Riverside Park
Providence, RI

Renewal. Restoration. Reflection.

As a series rooted in Sankofa, reflection, and cyclical transformation, SOULstice connects naturally to Riverside Park’s themes of renewal, resilience, and collective restoration.

Soul Storytelling
September 12, 2026 5:00–6:30 PM
Van Leesten Memorial Bridge
Providence, RI

Connection. Advocacy. Legacy.

As the final location of the series, the Bridge represents visibility, gathering, and collective progress through shared cultural experience.

SOULstice: Jazz, Soul, & Sankofa