With the Freedom Jazz Choir, James Newton, and Ruth Naomi Floyd. In the early 2000s, Marcus Shelby, already an esteemed bassist and bandleader in San Francisco, got a notion use music to highlight periods of struggle and uplift in American history. In 2013 with help from a grant from the James Irvine Foundation, Marcus and Healdsburg Jazz christened the Healdsburg Jazz Freedom Jazz Choir under the guidance of himself and soul-jazz singer Tiffany Austin as co-director. The Raven Theater will be the venue for “Lift Every Voice and Sing” featuring the Marcus Shelby Big Band, the 100-piece Freedom Jazz Choir, and special guests singer Ruth Naomi Floyd and flautist James Newton.