The sounds of jazz emanating from Gordon’s Alley Friday will serenade downtown business owners and pedestrians as the Astral Project from New Orleans, La., performs in concert from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

The free public concert is part of the 41st Alcorn State Jazz Festival, which begins Thursday at Alcorn State University in Lorman.

Miller said the group will open the festival with a workshop on the Alcorn campus on Thursday at 1 p.m. and give a concert at 6 p.m. at the Joyce J. Bolden Fine Arts Building to start the festival.

The festival is again being held in two parts, starting with the workshop and concert at Alcorn and the Friday concert in Vicksburg. The festival’s finale is April 15 at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Miller said the April 15 program is a daylong event featuring performances by high school, university and college bands, with a workshop and concert by a headlining performer to be named.

The four-member Astral Project was formed in 1978 in New Orleans.

“These guys have been together for decades,” Jazz Festival Director Dr. David Miller said of the group. “They’re educators; most of them teach at Loyola (University) and at least one teaches at UNO (University of New Orleans).”

The group has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Jackson Jazz Festival and in clubs and concerts in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Richmond, Va., and Roanoke, Va.