Remembering Lorenzo Washington (1943–2026)

October 22, 2026

The National Museum of African American Music mourns the passing of Lorenzo Washington, founder and curator of the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, who died this week at the age of 83.

Lorenzo was a lifelong Nashvillian who never stopped believing that the story of Jefferson Street deserved to be told in full. He grew up in a segregated city and came of age in the glow of its clubs and ballrooms, where Jimi Hendrix, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Richard, Jackie Shane, and hundreds of local artists made North Nashville one of the most vital music corridors in the South. When Interstate 40 cut through the neighborhood in the late 1960s, much of that world was lost. Lorenzo spent the rest of his life making sure it was not forgotten.

In 2011, he opened his own home as the Jefferson Street Sound Museum. What began as a tribute to friends and neighbors grew into a collection of thousands of photographs, instruments, recordings, and stories, and into a place where musicians, scholars, students, and visitors from around the world could stand inside Nashville’s Black music history and hear it from someone who lived it. He did this work largely on his own and almost always with Karen Coffee, his wife and partner in the museum, beside him.

Lorenzo’s connection to NMAAM runs deep. Our museum was first imagined for Jefferson Street, and we have long considered him a kindred spirit and a teacher. In 2024 we were honored to present Living Legends: Lorenzo Washington, an exhibit celebrating his life and work in our galleries. Nashville recognized him with Lorenzo Washington Day, observed each April 3, and this year the Jefferson Street Sound Museum was added to the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. Only weeks ago, the Nashville Black Music Association named him a 2026 Nashville Gospel Honors honoree.

“Lorenzo understood something essential about this city: that Music City was built by more hands than the official story usually credits,” said Bill Jeffries, President of NMAAM. “He gave those hands names and faces. Every institution in Nashville that cares about Black music, including ours, is in his debt.”

We extend our deepest condolences to Karen, to his children Dwayne, Tracey, Patricia, and Ryan, and to the entire Washington family and the Jefferson Street community. We will share information about memorial arrangements as the family makes it available.

Lorenzo’s work is not finished, and we do not intend to let it rest. The stories he gathered are part of the foundation this city stands on. Nashville is Music City because of Jefferson Street as much as Music Row, and NMAAM is committed to carrying those stories forward, in our galleries, in our programs, and in partnership with Karen and the Jefferson Street Sound Museum, so that the artists he championed remain part of how the world understands this city’s music.

The Jefferson Street Sound Museum remains open, and we encourage everyone who loves this city’s music to visit. The best way to honor Lorenzo is to keep walking through the door he opened.