Ever since the age of 9, when she won her first talent show at the Masonic Temple in Houston’s Fourth Ward, Jewel Brown has been a veteran jazz/blues chanteuse. She has performed with such greats as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. She even spent 18 months headlining the Dallas nightclub that was run by Jack Ruby, aka the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald.

In 1968, she took a lengthy hiatus from music — over 40 years, to be exact — eventually returning to singing in the mid-aughts. In recent years, she has done shows at such venues as Satchmo SummerFest in New Orleans, recorded music for Austin’s Dynaflow Records and gained many young followers. Says Brown, “One of the greatest enjoyments that I’ve found in my late years is that here I am, almost 85, and running into somebody half my age that has enjoyed what I’ve done and is refurbishing it into new.”

This weekend, Community Artists’ Collective and Community Music Center of Houston will devote two days to celebrating the Third Ward-based singer. On Saturday, the Community Artists’ Collective will have an exhibition featuring music-themed works from several artists, and Brown will be in attendance for an on-site interview. This exhibition (which runs through June 25) will salute not just Brown but this city’s rich history of Black music. (June is Black Music Month, after all.)

“多数情况下,我们想传达的是,麻木er one, this community is so fruitful and, then, it’s also so close to home,” says curator/event coordinator Khaili Sam-Sin, who will also have a piece on display. “Like, Jewel Brown is a legend. Someone said she was the Beyoncé of her time, and she’s just gonna pop in. And that really represents the culture of Houston, where we’re all close-knit but, then, we’re also powerhouses.”

周日,休斯顿社区音乐中心的will have a show featuring live performances from CMCH Musical Youth, Tyreke Cooper Brass Band and Tweed Smith. Brown is the latest artist to be honored in the nonprofit’s ongoing Legacy Project, which “recognizes contributors to the Black music experience.”

“We’ve always admired Jewel Brown,” says CMCH music director Anne Lundy. “I mean, when you just look at her musical contributions to the world of music — I was just reminiscing, looking at her singing with Louis Armstrong. There’s just so many things that she has done in the world of music, and the fact that Houston is her home and everything. I’ve always admired her.”

CMCH will also use this event to show off its newly purchased location on 3020 Holman — but they haven’t moved in there just yet. “It needs lots of renovations,” says Lundy, adding that a million dollars will be needed to fix up the place. (She also says the center is applying for grants that’ll fund the renovations.) “So, we’re going to invite people to come out and view. They can go inside and walk around and so forth and see that this building is ours, and what we need now is the funds to make it, you know, usable.”

So, how does Brown feel about all this? Of course, she’s honored that she’s being, well, honored. “As a performer,” she says, “I am so grateful and thankful to have had something that some people have not forgotten.”

Don’t expect her to slow down anytime soon. On June 18, she’ll be performing at the 150th Juneteenth Celebration at Emancipation Park Conservancy. She’ll also be dropping a new album in August, the same month she’ll have her 85th birthday. As Brown says, “Everybody will tell you I don’t think old. Thankfully, I don’t look old. I don’t act old, you know what I’m saying? I act me. I act what the Lord has given me.”

Craig Lindsey is a Houston-based writer.