Music in the Park kicks off with jazz

You could say Jeff Smith is the drummer for m-pact, one of the groups performing at Olympia’s Music in the Park this summer. But because m-pact is an a cappella singing group, Smith keeps the rhythm going with his voice.

M-pact will perform at the only Friday night concert in the Music in the Park series, sponsored by the Olympia Downtown Association. The series begins Wednesday with a show by the Olympia Jazz Senators. Shows happen every Wednesday for eight weeks in Sylvester Park.

M-pact will perform Aug. 3 at the series’ highest-profile show at Port Plaza. Billboard magazine once named the group “best unsigned band,” and the six-voice ensemble — formed in Seattle but now based in Los Angeles — has performed with Jackson Browne, Ray Charles and Sheryl Crowe, among other top-name vocalists and songwriters.

While the gig in Olympia is lower profile than some of its shows, m-pact has performed at Music in the Park before, in 2010.

“They were great,” said Vida Zvirzdys-Farler of the Olympia Downtown Association. “It’s really amazing that they could do all that with voices alone.”

The connection was made through Smith, whose mother, stepfather and sister — Kathy, Larry and Ivy Gilliam — live in Olympia. Larry Gilliam was on the downtown association’s board when the last show was planned and suggested it.

Smith hasn’t lived in Olympia but has visited often since his mother and stepfather moved here in the ’80s.

“We try to perform in the Northwest as often as we can,” Smith said. “It ends up happening once every few years.”

He described his role in the group as vocal percussion, including beatboxing, a technique that’s common in hip-hop but that he has adapted to suit m-pact’s mix of jazz, rhythm and blues, pop and funk.

“I create drum sounds for the group,” he said. “I work with Trist Curless, who is the bass singer. We work together like a rhythm section in a regular band.”

Smith came to vocal percussion in college. “It’s something I just kind of stumbled on,” he said. “I was singing in an a cappella group. We were doing a song and we decided we wanted to add some drum sounds.

“I raised my hand and volunteered to learn how to do that. It started very simple and very basic.”

The group is at work on its sixth album. With the working title of “The Stevie Project,” it will be an album of Stevie Wonder tunes. “It may or may not be done when we get there,” Smith said. “I’m sure we’ll be doing a few tunes from that project.”

M-pact does its own arrangements of familiar tunes, but the group also writes and performs original songs.

“We do like to write songs,” Smith said. “We probably don’t do as many original songs in our concerts as we would like, mostly because people like to hear songs that they recognize.”

Music in the Park

What: In its 33rd year, the Olympia Downtown Association’s outdoor concert series attempts to offer something for every musical taste.

When: 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 29, plus a Friday concert from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Aug. 3

Where: Sylvester Park on Capitol Way, Olympia, except the Aug. 3 event, which is at Port Plaza at the Port of Olympia

Tickets: Free

Information: 360-357-8948, musicinthe parkolympia.com

SCHEDULE

Wednesday: Olympia Jazz Senators

July 18: 133rd Army National Guard Band (Americana)

July 25: Fingertips (rhythm and blues)

Aug. 1: Sammy Steele Band (country)

Aug. 3: m-pact (a cappella)

Aug. 8: Tacoma Concert Band (symphonic)

Aug. 15: Craig Terrill Band (rock)

Aug. 22: DUB Lounge International (reggae)

Aug. 29: Fabulous Roof Shakers (rhythm and blues)